Back to Gabrielle Goldwater's Reports
Just a question - does anybody in a normal
civilized country has what the Palis call: Popular
Resistance Committees .......... are we
missing anything ?
PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Press Release
Ref:
37/2006
Date: 01 April 2006
Time: 11:00 GMT
PCHR
Condemns the Clashes between Palestinian Gunmen and Security Personnel
in
Gaza City
On Friday, 31 March 2006, Gaza City witnessed armed
clashes between members
of the Popular Resistance
Committees and members of Palestinian Security
Forces, resulting in
the death of 4 people and the injury of 36 others,
including 3 seriously
injured.
The events started in the morning hours with the death of
El-Abed El-Qouqa,
the commander of Naser Salah El-Deen Brigades (the armed
branch of the
Popular Resistance Committees, PRC). El-Qouqa was killed by an
explosive-laden car that was detonated as he was walking beside it in the
western part of Gaza City. The PRC accused Palestinian security forces and
Fatah leaders of killing El-Qouqa.
Armed clashes erupted between
gunmen of the Naser Salah -el-Deen Brigades
and Palestinian security
personnel in Wehda Street in Gaza City. Two
bystanders were injured. The
situation escalated, and clashes ignited near
the Sheikh Radwan Cemetary.
Three people, including one child were killed
and 34 were injured, 3 of them
seriously.
Sources in Shifa Hospital in Gaza City informed PCHR's
fieldworker that
El-Qouqa was pronounced dead upon arrival. He was killed by
shrapnel all
over the body, and his body was badly charred by the
explosion.
After El-Qouqa's death, the PRC spokesman, Mohammad Abdel Al
(Abu Abir)
accused Palestinian security of the murder, pointing out a number
of figures
including: Mohammad Dahlan (Palestinian Legislative Council
Member), Samir
El-Mash'harawi (Fatah leader), Rashid Abu Sh'bak (Director
of the
Preventive Security Apparatus), and Tariq Abu Rajab (Director of
General
Intelligence).
At approximately 14:00, armed clashes took
place between PRC members and
guards of the house of Samir El-Mash'harawi,
located near the place where
Abu Abir was holding a press conference. Two
bystanders were injured, and
taken to Shifa Hospital for treatment. After
this incident a large number of
Preventive Security troops, charged with
guarding Mash'harawi, closed off
the area around the house.
Naser
Salah El-Deen gunmen clashed with members of Preventive Security and
the
guards of Nabil Tammous, an officer in Preventive Security. The clashes
took
place during the funeral procession of El-Qouqa to the Sheikh Radwan
Cemetary, near Tammous's house. The clashes continued for several hours. The
final tally was 3 dead: a PRC member, one of Tammous's guards, and a child.
Thirty-four people sustained injuries, 3 of them seriously. The 3 dead
victims were:
- Hisham Abu Taha (27), a PRC member from
Rafah;
- Seif El-Deen Mohammad Ahmad El-Halis (37), a preventive
security
member and guard of Nabil Tammous's house. He was killed by a
bullet to the
head; and
- Sadat Abu Hamda (15), a resident of
Gaza City who was killed as
he passed through the area.
Medical and
police sources in Shifa Hospital informed PCHR's fieldworker
that 36 injured
were admitted to the hospital for treatment. The majority of
the injuries
were moderate, and 3 were very serious injuries.
PCHR strongly condemns
these clashes, and:
- points to the serious concern over the
continued misuse of
weapons by armed Palestinian groups and security
personnel, which is a
continuum of the ongoing security chaos;
-
stresses that these incidents are a continuation of the ongoing
security
chaos in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), caused by the
lack of
serious legal procedures by the Palestinian National Authority
(PNA) to
confront these incidents;
- calls upon the PNA, represented by the
Attorney General, to
investigate these crimes, and to bring the perpetrators
to justice; and
- Calls upon all Palestinian factions and armed
groups to adopt
dialogue and reject violence and arms to resolve internal
disputes, and to
avoid harming civilians.
Public
Document
**************************************
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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