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Three Deaths in Family Feud in Gaza City

Citizens Must Resort to Peaceful and Legal Mechanisms and Renounce Violence

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11 June 2017 |Reference 41/2017

In a tragic incident, three persons were killed and three others were wounded during a dispute that erupted between relatives from the Al Atawna family in Al Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights calls for an independent investigation into the incident, and asserts the urgency to return to choosing legal, non-violent ways to resolve family-related disputes.
 
According to information available to Al Mezan, on Friday, 9 June 2017, at approximately 7:00 pm, a feud broke out between cousins about a joint door that divides their apartments in the building where they both live. During the dispute, the cousins pulled cold weapons at each other, killing three people and injuring three more in the scuffle. Mohammed Al Atawna, 23, his brother Ahmed, 24, as well as Mahmoud Al Atwan, 57 – all members of the same extended family – were the three fatalities. Medics at the Al Shifa Hospital described injuries of two as serious, while the third person was described as moderately wounded. 
 
Al Mezan deeply regrets this tragic incident, and calls on the relevant authorities in the Gaza Strip to open an independent investigation. Al Mezan stongly reiterates that no motive could ever justify resortion to violence, and that the law and the legal means must always be the sole tools to resolve disputes among citizens.
 
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