Incidents of misuse of small arms are on the rise again in the Gaza Strip Al Mezan strongly condemns the misuse of arms belonging to armed resistance groups Those who are proven involved in such crimes must be brought to justice in accordance with the law regardless of their political or factional affiliation At approximately 8:00 pm on Tuesday, August 13, 2013, a dispute erupted between some people who had just finished the evening prayer (Al Maghrib) in Al Tawheed mosque in Beit Hanoun in the North Gaza district.
The dispute grew as people outside of the mosque joined in, at which point small arms were used.
Different Palestinian factions intervened to dissolve the argument, which came to an end around 10:00 pm the same day.
As a result, two people who were in the mosque sustained wounds and bruises.
The police intervened, surrounded the mosque, arrested a number of men, and opened investigation into the incident.
According to Al Mezan’s field investigations, the dispute erupted between two people but then escalated to include people from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns this incident of the misusing of fire arms, as well as similar incidents that stem from family and personal feuds.
It also reiterates its previous calls to limit the use of small arms to law enforcement officers implementing the law and to prevent the use of small arms for personal purposes.
Al Mezan calls on the Palestinian resistance and political parties to ensure that small arms are notused in family disputes or crimes, regardless of the political or factional affiliation of those involved.
Those who are proven involved in such crimes must be brought to justice in accordance with the legal process regardless of their political or factional affiliation.