Al Mezan expresses concern over the ongoing state of insecurity in the Gaza Strip.
On 21 Nov.
2006, Mr.
Abd Al Aziz Abu Shahin, member of the Fateh revolutionary council, and former minister of supply, was exposed to gunfire attack from armed men in Tel Al Hawa.
According to the center's field investigations, at approximately 20:40, Abu Shain was coming back from Al Horria Radio station where he had been interviewed, and was on his way to Al Ola Tower where he lives.
When Abu Ali stopped in front of the tower, a group of armed men got out of a car stationed opposite, and shot him.
Abu Shain was injured as a live bullet hit his right thigh.
In a separate incident, on the same day, at approximately 16:00, unknown gunmen intercepted an ICRC vehicle in Khan Younis, driven by two Italian Red Cross aid workers; Claudio Moroni, 36, and Gianmarco Onorago, 63, at the al-Matahin junction in northern Khan Younis.
The Italians were snatched from their car, and were taken to unknown destination.
However, both were released at approximately 00:00 the same day, after extended contact with the kidnappers.
Al Mezan strongly condemns the firing on the Abu Shahin and the continuing kidnapping of foreigners, and sees these incidents as constitutive of a serious escalation of the security unrest and absence of the rule of law in the Gaza Strip.
It also asserts that the kidnapping of foreigners disserves the Palestinian people before the international community.
Al Mezan also asserts that these acts offer a clear picture of the deterioration of the security situation and the rule of the law under the PNA's incapability, and its successive governments, to put an end to this phenomenon.
Since the beginning of this of this year, Al Mezan has documented 169 Palestinians killed and 1003 injured as a result of the security unrest.
Further, 78 were kidnapped, including 18 foreigners, during this period.
The center stresses that the PNA's failure to seriously confront the ongoing deterioration of the security situation in the Palestinian society, and its inability to follow the perpetrators of these crimes and bring them to justice, has only encouraged the perpetration of more crimes and kidnapping of foreigners.
End