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Press release,
Palestinian Center For Human Rights (PCHR) – Gaza: 19
Palestinians, Including Two Children, Killed and at Least 70
Others Wounded in Shameful Bloody Clashes between Hamas and
Fatah Movements
IMEMC
 PCHR
strongly condemns internal fighting between Hamas and Fatah
movements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT),
especially the Gaza Strip, which has killed 19 persons,
including 8 civilian bystanders, and wounded at least 70 others.
PCHR calls upon the leaders of the two movements and all other
nationalist and Islamic factions to make sincere efforts to
contain and stop such regrettable and shameful fighting, go back
to dialogue and put higher national interests of the Palestinian
people above all narrow partisan interests and political
conflict over authority. PCHR stresses that dialogue is the only
option, and the current internal fighting is a prescription for
self-destruction.
According to
investigations conducted by PCHR, bloody clashes have renewed
between the two sides since Thursday evening, 25 January 2007,
when unknown persons detonated an explosive device on the
roadside when a vehicle of the Executive Force of the Ministry
of Interior (EF) was passing in Jabalya town in the northern
Gaza Strip. As a result of the attack, which occurred in a
densely-populated area, the vehicle was destroyed and 8 members
of the EF and 4 passing persons, including two children, were
wounded. Later, Hussam ‘Abdul Malek Mtai, 36, a member of the EF
from Jabalya, who was wounded in the attack, was pronounced
dead. On Friday, 26 January 2007, another member of the EF,
Mousa Taha ‘Asaliya, 18, was also pronounced dead.
At
approximately 01:30 on Friday, 26 January 2007, a number of
armed members of Hamas and the EF stormed a house belonging to
Nabeel Hasan al-Jarjeer, 25, a member of Fatah movement in
Jabalya town, accusing him of responsibility for the attack on
the EF vehicle. They shot al-Jarjeer dead with a bullet to the
head. They also violently beat his brother, 33-year-old Nahedh.
He sustained bruises throughout the body.
Soon after,
clashes erupted near a house belonging to Sameeh al-Madhoun, a
member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (the armed wing of Fatah
movement) in Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip. In a
later development, al-Madhoun abducted a number of members of
Hamas and held them inside his house, which he had already
fortified and blocked all roads leading to it with cement blocks
and sand barriers. As a result of the exchange of fire, two
civilian bystanders, including a girl, were wounded:
1) Saleh
Jameel Matar, 28, wounded by a live bullet to the abdomen; and
2) Fatema
Nafez Qa’oud, 17, wounded by a live bullet to the left hand.
At
approximately 10:30 also on Friday, a number of gunmen opened
fire at a vehicle belonging to Hamas, which was calling through
loudspeakers for organizing a demonstration in Jabalya town. The
driver, Ra’ed Rjab Subeh, 27, from Beit Lahia, who is a member
of Hamas, was seriously wounded by a live bullet to the chest.
He was later pronounced dead. Another person who was traveling
in the vehicle, 23-year-old Younis Rabee’ Abu Jabal, sustained
injuries and bruises throughout the body as the vehicle turned
over when it was fired at.
Clashes and
mutual kidnappings between members of Hamas and Fatah movements
continued. An armed group of Hamas chased a member of Fatah
movement, 20-year-old Shadi Saleh Quddas, in Beit Lahia town and
he fled to a police station. The armed group attempted to kidnap
him from the police station, but things were settled. A police
officer, 30-year-old Yousef Ahmed Hawila, was wounded by a
bullet to the left foot unleashed unintentionally from his
colleague’s gun.
 At
approximately 13:50 also on Friday, armed members of ‘Izziddin
al-Qassam Brigades (the armed wing of Hamas) and the EF,
besieged the house of Mansour Shalayel, a member of Fatah
movement, in Jabalya refugee camp, accusing him of
responsibility for the aforementioned attack on the vehicle that
was calling for organizing a demonstration for Hamas. Violent
clashes took place between dozens of gunmen who deployed around
the house on one side and Shalayel and some gunmen who were
inside the house on the other side. As a result of those
clashes, two civilian bystanders were killed:
1) Fu’ad
‘Abdul Mahdi al-Khaldi, 17, hit by several live bullets to the
head and the chest; and
2) Ziad
Isma’il Abi Zaid, 25, hit by a live bullet to the chest.
At
approximately 21:30 on Friday, the bodies of 3 persons who were
killed in clashes near Shalayel’s house were brought to Kamal
‘Edwan Hospital in Beit Lahia town. Two of them were identified
as Ahmed Saleh Salah, 20, and Sharaf Salama Abu Wadi, 22, both
are members of the EF. They were hit by several gunshots
throughout the body. The third person has not been identified.
At
approximately 22:00, several units of the Palestinian National
Security Forces and the Naval Police moved from the site of the
Third Brigade, east of Jabalya refugee camp, towards the area of
clashes near Shalayel’s house and were able to lift the siege
imposed on the house. They were also able to take shalayel and
his family out of the house, which had been under heavy gunfire.
At
approximately 00:30 on Saturday, 27 January 2007, Mohammed
Ghaleb al-Skani, 25, a member of the National Security Forces
from Gaza City, was killed by live bullet to the back from an
unknown source, when he was on duty at the southern entrance of
Beit Hanoun town. It is worth noting that several areas in the
Gaza Strip witnessed armed clashes at the time.
The number of
persons wounded in the bloody clashes in the northern Gaza Strip
was 57, including a number of bystanders.
The clashes in
the northern Gaza Strip extended to Gaza City. At approximately
15:00 on Friday, Brigadier Jihad ‘Abdul Ra’ouf Srhan, 58, of the
National Security Forces, was wounded by a bullet to the right
leg. Sarhan told PCHR that he was traveling in his car with his
bodyguard on Salah al-Din road, east of Gaza City, when a number
of masked gunmen intercepted the car and fired at him as he
refused to obey their order for him to get out of the car.
At
approximately 18:20 also on Friday, a number of unknown gunmen
broke into al-Hedaya Hospital in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in the
southwest of Gaza City, and opened fire at all those who were in
the mosque listening to a preach. Three persons were killed:
1) Eihab
Suleiman Hammouda, 22;
2)
Mas’oud Jamal Shamallakh, 22; and
3) Zuhair
Mahmoud al-Mansi, 40, a prominent leader of Hamas.
Four other
persons were wounded:
1) Sa’id
Jamal Shamallakh, 20, wounded by several bullets to the legs;
2) Muneer
Qassem al-Meenawi, 27, wounded by a bullet to the right side;
3) Mo’taz
Jamal Jamal Abu Ras, 20, wounded by two bullets to the right leg
and the left thigh; and
4)
Mohammed Mansour Sa’da, 17, wounded by several bullets to the
legs.
The gunmen
also kidnapped Mohammed al-Hussein al-Berniya, 24.
At
approximately 21:30, armed clashes erupted between members of
the Preventive Security Service (PSS) and those of the EF near
the headquarters of the PSS in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. A
civilian bystander, 20-year-old Ra’fat Daoud Toutah, was killed
by a gunshot to the head.
At
approximately 22:00 on the same day, unknown persons fired a
projectile at the house of Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahhar, Palestinian
Foreign Minister, in al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City. At
approximately 22:20, unknown persons fired two projectiles at
the house of Rasheed Abu Shibak, Director-General of the
Internal Security Service and former commander of the PSS, in
Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. Approximately 10 minutes later,
unknown persons launched 3 mortars at the headquarters of the
PSS in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. No casualties were reported as
a result of the three attacks.
At
approximately 23:15 on Friday, unknown gunmen shot dead
Lieutenant Colonel, Kamal Hasan Khalil, for the Special Security
Bureau, when was traveling in his car near al-Samer intersection
in the center of Gaza City.
At
approximately 00:30 on Saturday, 27 January 2007, armed clashes
erupted again between members of the PSS and those of the EF in
Tal al-Hawa neighborhood. A member of the EF, 22-year-old Hammam
Taha al-Sha’er, was killed, and 3 members of the PSS were
wounded.
At
approximately 11:00 also on Saturday, medical sources at Shifa
Hospital in Gaza City, declared that Mahmoud Khalil al-Khattat,
18, died from a wound he had sustained at 08:30. Al-Khattat was
seriously wounded by a gunshot to the head during armed clashes
between members of the National Security Force and those of
Hamas in al-Shojaeya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.
Clashes in the
Gaza Strip had their echo in the West Bank. At approximately
15:30 on Friday, an armed group of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
(the armed wing of Fatah movement), kidnapped 7 children and
their teacher of al-Qastal Scout in Balata refugee camp, east of
Nablus, when they were in Kufor Qallil village, southeast of the
city. Members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade declared in a media
release that the abducted persons are members of the EF and
threatened to kill them if the siege imposed on Shalayel’s house
in the Gaza Strip was not lifted. The abducted persons were
released on Saturday morning. At approximately 22:30 on Friday,
a number of masked gunmen stormed a house belonging to ‘Aamer
‘Omar Sha’bello, 24, in al-Dahia area in Nablus. They asked him
about his brother, who studies abroad. They then kidnapped him.
In Khan Yunis,
at approximately 16:30 on Friday, 2.5-year-old Yahia Ibrahim
Madhi, was killed by mistake by a bullet to the head. According
to his father, the child was playing near the family home when
members of the Popular Army, who guard areas on which Israeli
settlement had stood in the past, fired at 4 vehicles of
security forces, thinking that the vehicles were belonging to
the EF.
PCHR strongly
condemns bloody internal fighting, and:
1.
Reminds all nationalist and Islamic factions of their role and
duty to serve the interests of the Palestinian people and
protect civilians, rather than being a burden that threatens the
safety and security of people.
2. Calls
upon the two fighting parties to stop fighting and immediately
go back to dialogue to reach a national agreement, and believes
that such shameful fighting emphasizes the urgent need for
dialogue.
3.
Expresses regret for the current Palestinian internal situation,
one year following the parliamentary election which were highly
praised by the world and constituted a positive step in the
process of peaceful transition of authority in the past two
years.
4. Calls
for the establishment of a judicial investigation committee to
investigate all incidents in the past weeks and bring all those
engaged in them to justice.
5. Calls
for reform in Palestinian security services and restructure them
on professional foundations to serve as law enforcement forces
that have the duty of protecting the safety and security of
people, and to ensure that they will never be politicized or
engage in any partisan conflicts.
6.
Reminds that the only party interested in the continuation of
lawlessness and internal fighting in the OPT is Israel, which
persistently continues to reinforce its occupation of the OPT
through settlement expansion, land confiscation, the
construction of the Annexation Wall and create irreversible
facts on the ground that will ensure the annexation of most of
the OPT and undermine any possibility of establishing a viable
Palestinian state. |
