Human rights organizations in Gaza are calling on the Hamas government to crack down on illegal weapons held by civilians, following the high number of deaths caused by family feuds.
Salama Al-Nabahin, 30, a resident of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza was brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah on Monday and soon after pronounced dead. Shot three times, Nabahin was the victim of an ongoing family feud, in which his brother was killed by a cousin in 2006.
Al-Dameer, a Gaza-based human rights organization, reported Nabahin to be the eighth fatality as a result of family feuds in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of 2010. A statement issued by the organization blamed Hamas for the escalating internal violence.
'Al-Dameer is surprised by the inability of governmental authorities in Gaza to deal firmly with small arms when used in family disputes or crimes,' the statement read.
'The continuation of security chaos and attacks against the rule of law continue to impede the implication of the rule of law in the Gaza Strip.'
Attorney Samer Mousa, the legal advisor of Al-Dameer, said that his organization recorded a total of 82 deaths from unnatural causes in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the year.
'Security anarchy still exists, mostly due to the existence of illegal weapons in the hands of unauthorized people,' Mousa told The Media Line. 'We have appealed to the government to solve the problem, but haven’t yet noticed any tangible change.'
Ahmad Youssef, a political advisor for Hamas Prime Minister Isma’il Haniyya, claimed the accusations by Al-Dameer were Fatah-led anti-Hamas propaganda.
'There is no security chaos in Gaza,' Youssef told The Media Line. 'Just because two families fought this does not mean chaos. Everybody here abides by the law, and the people responsible for the recent violence were brought to court.'
'Is this really a phenomenon or just a single event?' Youssef rhetorically asked, 'How many cases of violence occur in the West Bank?'
An attorney in the Gaza-based Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights speaking to The Media Line on condition of anonymity said that over the past six months his center has noticed an increase in the use of firearms in family feuds in Gaza.
'Before, people would use sticks. Now they have switched to firearms and knives,' he said.
'Throughout Ramadan there has also been an increase in feuds,' the attorney added. 'Over the last few days hospitals in the city have reported a feud injury almost every hour. During the fast people are agitated and more prone to lose their temper.'
An upcoming report by Al-Dameer will cite death inside smuggling tunnels leading into Gaza as the primary cause of unnatural death, with 29 cases recorded in 2010.
These deaths are usually caused by tunnel collapse or electrocution following power malfunctions.
Mousa of Al-Dameer said his organization has tried to convince the Hamas government to pressure merchants who profit from illicit tunnel trade to stop.
'We know how difficult it is under the current circumstances to completely stop trade via the tunnels,' Mousa said, 'but we try to convince them to at least provide proper work conditions and increase safety in the tunnels.'
Mousa added that the increased flow of products into the Gaza Strip since Israel’s decision in early June to relax its ban on incoming products has reduced the number of Palestinians working in the tunnels.
In 2009, according to data collected by Al-Dameer, 19 Palestinians were killed in Gaza as a result of family feuds whereas 64 were killed in tunnels, comprising 33 percent of the total 198 unnatural deaths in the Gaza Strip in 2009, excluding the Gaza War." (source)
