PCHR Calls for Investigating the Attacks in Khan Yunis Refugee Camp and Rafah’s El-Najjar Hospital

GAZA 01.10.07. PCHR calls for investigating the events in Khan Yunis refugee camp and Mohammad Yusef El-Najjar Hospital in Rafah several days ago, which included attacks by the Executive Force and Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions on civilians, leading to the injury of several people, 2 of them seriously. The Centre calls upon the dismissed government in Gaza to take the necessary steps to respect human rights during security and law-enforcement operations.

The Center’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 19:00 on Saturday, 29 September 2007, a fistfight broke out between Fatah and Hamas supporters in Omar Bin El-Khattab Mosque in Khan Yunis. Fatah supporters in the mosque rejected the new preacher in the mosque, whom they viewed as a Hamas man, who was appointed by the Ministry of Waqf. The Executive Force and Izzedeen El-Qassam Battalions intervened to break up the fight. Several people threw rocks at them.

In a related development, a fight broke out between Fatah and Hamas supporters in the Abu Hatab clan. Two Hamas supporters suffered wounds. Abd El-Karim Abu Hatab (39) was stabbed; and the second was hit on the head with an iron bar. As a result, the Executive Force raided 4 houses, including the house belonging to Yusef Mohammad Abu Hatab to arrest his 4 sons. The Force fired inside the house and injured his daughter Hind (20) with a superficial wound to the head and his daughter Fatima (18) with shrapnel to the chest and right arm.

An argument broke out between neighbors and the Force members in the area. The argument escalated into a fistfight. The Force used gunfire and injured Khaled Mohy El-Deen Abu Znad (37) with a bullet in the chest. He was taken to Naser Hospital for treatment, where his injury was listed as serious. A second person, Jamil Wad’i El-Attili (32), was injured by shrapnel in the right hand.

Four members of the Force were injured by stones. And the Force beat another 5 civilians with sticks, including a woman who was taking pictures with her mobile phone. Maysoon Hussein Abu Rok’a (34) informed PCHR’s fieldworker that the Force attacked her with sticks. One of them pulled her hair and threw her against the wall for taking pictures of the Force attacks.

The Force and El-Qassam Battalions arrested several people and took them to compounds in Khan Yunis. They were later released. Some of the detainees stated that they were beaten and tortured during detention. Ahmad Khader Mohammad El-Salmi (20) stated that Force and Battalions members, some of them masked, detained him and took him to the Battalions compound west of Khan Yunis, where he was interrogated. He was tied to a chair and beaten by gun butts during interrogation.

And in Rafah, PCHR’s preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 23:00 on Thursday, 27 September 2007, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade at a Hamas commander in Rafah: Raja’e Ahmad Hussein (42). At the time, he was sitting in front of his house with his brother Mohmoud (33) and friend Mahmoud (34). The trio suffered moderate injuries by the attack. The Criminal Investigations Department in the Police stated that 2 suspects have been detained in relation to the attack.

After half an hour, an argument broke out between members of the Hussein family, who came to visit their injured relatives, and members of the Executive Force who attempted to evacuate them from the emergency ward in the hospital. During the argument, one Hussein clan member stole weapon of a Force member and hid inside the hospital with his relatives. As a result, the Force fired teargas inside the emergency ward and severely beat 7 members of the Hussein clan. In addition, they fired at Mousa Sabri Hussein (23) who is charged with stealing the weapon. They took him out of the room, beat him severely, and shot him in the left leg. The nurse Ayman El-Hissi (23) was beaten with sticks on his back as he tried with colleagues to prevent the Force members from beating the injured young man, who was transferred to the European Hospital due to the severity of his injury.

In light of these attacks, PCHR:

1. Calls upon the dismissed government to investigate the attacks and prosecute the perpetrators.
2. Calls upon the Executive Force to show restraint and to respect the law to ensure respect of international human rights standards and the safety of civilians.
3. Condemns the continued role of El-Qassam Battalions in carrying out illegal arrests. The Centre calls for an immediate stoppage to these acts and for closing all Battalions’ detention centers. The Centre affirms that the Battalions are not a law-enforcement agency; and is not authorized to deal in civilian matters.

Public Document

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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893

PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org

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