Yesterday, 8/10/2001 at about 10:30, a peaceful students demonstration started at the Islamic University in Gaza City heading for the PLC building.
When the demonstration reached ath-Thalathini Crossing the Palestinian police force blocked its way and the police turned the students back to the campus chasing them with batons.
The students then threw stones from the inside and outside of the campus on the police, who chased them, and used teargas on both groups of students in and outside the university campus.
As a result, several students were wounded.
The confrontations escalated between the students and the police who used teargas and fired live ammunition in the air and on the students.
As a result several students were wounded.
The students burned a governmental car.
The police recognized that they wounded six students and one of them severely in a press release at the beginning of the confrontations.
The confrontations continued and moved to other streets nearby.
Two corpses arrived at Shifa hospital in Gaza City: Yusuf Muhammad Abd al-Hadi Aqil, 21 years old from Nussairat Refugee Camp.
Killed by a bullet in the chest.
Muhammad Abdullah al-Ifranji, 14 years old from as-Sabra Neighbourhood in Gaza.
Preparatory school student.
Killed by a bullet in the head.
Besides the students Haitham Tawfiq Abu Shamala, 19 years old from Khan Yunis arrived at the hospital clinically dead due to a bullet wound in the head.
The nunmber of wounded students reached 120.
Among them 18 were wounded with life ammunition and the others were asphyxiated with tear gas and wounded by stones.
Twenty policemen were also wounded by stones and asphyxiated.
After the tragic event the confrontations moved to other areas in the Gaza Strip.
Demonstrators attacked the police station in ash-Shatti Refugee Camp and ash-Shaikh Radwan area in Gaza City and the police stations in the Mid Camps Governorate and Jabalia Refugee Camp.
They also attacked the Palestinians Civic Aviation Authority and the Palestnian Airline Company and damaged the building burning some of its furniture.
The PA closed all the schools for one day and the universities until further notice.
They also imposed a restricion on the entrance of foreign journalists into the Gaza Strip.
Al Mezan Center expresses its great sorrow for what has happened especially under the circumstances in which Palestinians live.
The center beliefs that there was no necessity to use excessive force by the Palestinian police and condemns the attacks on public property and police stations.
It emphasizes that people must not take the law into their own hands under any circumstances.
The Center demands: Creation of an Independent Investigation Committee to determine those responsible for injuring the victims and to revise the standards of the use of force by the police and to bring those responsible to justice.
Bringing those responsible for damages and attacks on police stations and public property to justice.
Protection and respect for the right to demonstrate and public gatherings according to the law.
END