In the past 3 days, a person was killed and two others, including two children, were wounded in the Gaza Strip in the context of the state of lawlessness and proliferation of weapon prevailing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR:
At approximately 19:30 on Thursday, 1 March 2007, Yasser Fathi Zannoun, 17, from al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah, was wounded by a bullet to the left foot when he was checking a gun inside his house.
At approximately 21:00 on the same day, Zuhair Sa’id al-Hilu, 14, from Nusairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, was wounded by shrapnel from a bullet he had played with.
At approximately 22:30 also on Thursday, unknown gunmen opened fire from a traveling car that had no registration plate at Hussein Mustafa Abu Karsh, 18, when he was neat his house in al-Shati refugee camp in the west of Gaza City. He was wounded by a number of bullets to the left foot.
At approximately 02:00 on Friday, 2 March 2007, unknown gunmen fired at a house belonging to Ashraf Mohammed al-Ghaffari, 37, a member of Fatah movement, in Deir al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. No casualties were reported.
At approximately 16:30 also on Friday, chaos prevailed during a football match in Khan Yunis and sounds of shooting were head in the area. The Palestinian police intervened to end the chaos. As a result of the indiscriminate shooting in the area, Fayed ‘Ali ‘Ashour, 42, was seriously wounded by 3 bullets to the right leg. He was evacuated to the hospital, but he died from his wound at approximately 22:30.
At the same time, unknown gunmen traveling in a civilian car kidnapped Shadi Mohammed Hmaid, 30, when he was near his house in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City. Later, the kidnappers dumped him into the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis after having wounded him with several bullets to the feet.
At approximately 22:40 also on Friday, Tariq Shaheen Shaheen, 27, a member of the Palestinian National Security Forces, from Nusiarat refugee camp, was brought into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City as he sustained bruises throughout the body. Shaheen was kidnapped by unknown gunmen from al-Jalaa’ Street. The gunmen violently beat him and then dumped him into al-Nafaq Street in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
At approximately 09:00 on Sunday, 4 March 2007, 4 persons were wounded during an exchange of fire between members of Hamas and Fatah movements:
1) ‘Abdul Rahman Mohammed Msabbeh, 18, wounded by a bullet to the abdomen;
2) Jamal Husni Abu Yousef, 35, wounded by a bullet to the right foot;
3) Maher Ahmed Msabbeh, 20, wounded by shrapnel to the buttocks; and
4) Nidal Jamal Msabbeh, 25, wounded by shrapnel to the hands.
In addition,
Gaza - Ma'an - Palestinian security sources have announced that two Palestinian citizens were abducted by unidentified armed assailants on Monday morning in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
The sources added that Yasser Basiouni and Mohammad Wishah were kidnapped at 1.40 am and taken to unknown destination.
Also in the Gaza Strip, at about 4am, an explosion was heard in the area of Khan Younis. The explosion resulted from an explosive device planted at the entrance of a video shop. The shop was destroyed but no casualties were reported.
This is all very surprising for two reasons.
One is that now that there is a "unity government" that everyone is so excited about that will make sure that Hamas/Fatah clashes are a thing of the past.
The other is that both Hamas and Fatah keep on adding more and more and more "security forces" to their bankrolls. With all those armed policemen, all those RPGs and machine guns, all those people dedicated to the noble Palestinian Arab cause - wouldn't you think that the streets would be safe?
It's a real puzzle, I tell ya.
(My counts of how many Palestinian Arabs have been violently killed by other Palestinian Arabs are now at 336 since Summer Rains and 131 since January 1.)
UPDATE: A 24-year old killed while he was trying to build a bomb near a house in southern Nuseirat, Gaza. 337 and 132.