Spike in number of Palestinian civilians killed near Gaza perimeter fence

Published:
4 Mar 2014

Amneh Qdeih, 57, a resident of the town of Khuza'ah, was killed on Friday, 28 February 2014. She died of a gunshot wound to her abdomen fired at her when she approached Gaza's perimeter fence. Her relatives told B'Tselem field researcher Khaled al-'Azayzeh that Qdeih, who was mentally ill, had been at a family wedding in the town of Khuza'ah, not far from the perimeter fence in the southeastern Gaza Strip. She did not return home with the rest her family, and when they realized she was missing, they began searching for her. At around 10:00 PM, her family heard gunshots, saw the light flares in the sky and noticed an ICRC jeep near the fence. At around 6:00 AM, they found Qdeih's body close to the perimeter fence, directly across from an Israeli military watchtower. Qdeih had sustained a gunshot wound to her abdomen. It is not clear whether she was killed instantaneously or bled to death for hours. The IDF Spokesperson told Israeli daily Haaretz that an IDF force fired at a person who was approaching the perimeter fence in the southern Gaza Strip and did not heed their calls to halt. The unit reported it had a confirmed hit on the target. The IDF Spokesperson did not explain why Qdeih was not given medical treatment that might have saved her life.

This is the fifth incident in the last three months in which Gaza residents who were not taking part in hostilities were killed by Israeli security forces near the perimeter fence. The civilians were shot when they were near the perimeter fence, on its Palestinian side. From late January 2013 to mid-December 2013 only one Palestinian was killed near the fence. The man was attempting to enter Israel without a permit when he was shot.

Since mid-December 2013, the number of live-fire casualties near the fence has been on the rise. In the ten weeks from 20 December 2013 to date, B'Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah has documented the injury of 55 individuals near the fence: 43 were injured by live fire; 10 by rubber-coated metal bullets; and two were hit in the head by a teargas canister. Figures published by OCHA also indicate that since mid-December there has been a sharp increase in the number of incidents in which civilian were injured by live gunfire near the Gaza perimeter fence. In all recent cases of civilian Palestinian fatalities near the Gaza perimeter fence, military officials were quoted in the media as saying that shots were fired at the individuals for being inside the off-limits zone or for sabotaging the fence.

On Friday, 20 December 2013, ‘Odeh Hamad, 27, was shot while scrap-collecting metal and plastic at the Beit Hanoun garbage dump. According to B'Tselem's inquiries, Hamad was struck in the head by a live bullet at around 3:20 PM, while he was cutting the barbed wire fence which parallels the perimeter fence. His brother, Radad Hamad, told B'Tselem that they had heard neither warnings nor shots fired in the air prior to the shooting. Additional gunshots were then fired from the military tower located about 400 meters away, and Radad Hamad suffered a gunshot wound to his arm. ‘Odeh Hamad was taken to the hospital in Beit Hanoun where he was pronounced dead. The IDF spokesperson said, "[O]n Friday, at midday, several suspects came close to the perimeter fence, within the area to which entry is prohibited, and sabotaged the fence barrier several times. The troops on site repeatedly tried to distance them, but as the sabotage continued, the force carried out suspect arrest procedure, during which one of the suspects was injured".

http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140304_shooting_near_gaza_fence