Man Dies and Four Persons Injured in Family Feuds; Al Mezan Calls for Upholding the Law and Countering Spread and Misuse of Small Arms in Gaza

One man was killed and four were injured in two separate family feuds in the Gaza Strip.
  The first incident took place in Ash-Sheikh I’jleen neighborhood, south of Gaza city.
  One young man was killed in it.
The second incident took place in Al Maghzi refugee camp and resulted in the injury of four persons from live bullets and shrapnel.
According to information gathered by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, at approximately 10:15 am on Sunday 29 April 2012, four persons suffering wounds were admitted to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah.
In the evening hours of Saturday 28 April 2012, a family feud between the Abu Mandeel family members erupted in Block (A) in the Al Maghazi refugee camp, in Middle Gaza district.
At approximately 10:00 am on the next day, the feud was renewed and small arms were used in it.
As a result, two persons, who gathered to mediate between the families, were injured.
Al Mezan has identified them as follows:
• ‘Atef Thabet, 45, sustained an injury from a bullet in the jaw and was referred to Ash-Shifa hospital due to his critical health condition, and
• Rawhi Thabet, 32, sustained an injury from a bullet in the left leg.
Another two persons from the Abu Mandeel family were also injured.
Al Mezan has identified them as follows:
• Abed Rabbo Abu Mandeel, 30, sustained a bullet injury in the right leg, and
• Yaser Abed Rabbo Abu Mandeel, 28, sustained bruises and a light injury from shrapnel.
A police force arrived at the scene of the incident and arrested a number of the Abu Mandeel family members.
The weapon that was used in the feud belongs to a Palestinian armed resistance faction.
At approximately 1:30 pm on Friday 27 April 2012, Mu’men Mureed Shamallakh, 32, was killed as he sustained a bullet wound in the head when a family feud between the Abdel Jawwad and Al Boubbu families erupted.
Shamallakh was a resident of Ash-Sheikh ‘Ijleen neighborhood, west of Gaza city.
  According to Al Mezan’s field investigations, the weapon used in this feud also belongs to a Palestinian armed resistance faction.
According to Al Mezan’s documentation, the number of family feud incidents that took place between June 2009 and 29 April 2012 has reached 125.
46 of these incidents resulted in the killings, harvesting 47 lives.
24 of those were killed from live bullet injuries.
The use of small arms in Gaza had started to decrease five years ago; however, it returned on the rise in 2011.
19 family feud incidents took place in the past year; during which 11 persons were killed, six of them were killed after sustaining bullet injuries.
Another 22 persons were injured.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights regrets the killing of a man and the injury of four due to the unlawful use of small arms in family feuds.
Al Mezan strongly condemns the misuse of arms that belong to armed resistance groups in such incidents.
Al Mezan warns against lenience with the spread and misuse of small arms and light weapons, which has serious consequences on society.
Al Mezan calls on the Gaza government to promptly initiate effective and transparent investigations into these incidents.
Those who are proven involved in such crimes must be brought to justice in accordance with the legal process without delay.
  Al Mezan also calls on the Palestinian armed resistance groups and the law enforcement officers to ensure that small arms are not used in family disputes or any criminal acts, regardless of the political or factional affiliation of those who use them.
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