Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

managed to detain seven attackers after surrounding them inside the building but they
were later released.
Al-Azhar University in Gaza was subject to a number of attacks. The most notable
was that carried out by a group of university students and graduates on 11 October
2005. They stormed the weekly meeting of the University Council and assaulted the
University Dean, Dr. Adnan El-Khaldi, and a number of other deans. The assailants
forced them to leave the University. Study at the University was suspended until
November 2005, following the attack.
On 2 May 2005, the Court of First Instance in Gaza was attacked by the relatives of
two people who had been convicted of collaboration and sentenced to a term of
imprisonment. The Judge, Fahmi El-Najjar, sustained bruises in this left hand as a
result.
On 14 August 2005, three people wearing civilian clothes and armed with pistols
attacked the Sharia Court building in the Zakat building in Rafedia, Nablus. They
entered the office of Judge Azzam Wahid Ahed El-Kharraz, 59, insulted him and fired
bullets in the office. A Court staff member, Ibrahim Mousa Dweikat, 28, was injured
by shrapnel in his right foot and left thigh.
The offices of the Central Election Committee (CEC) were subjected to a series of
attacks, perpetrated mostly by armed groups of Fatah. Most of the attacks occurred in
the Gaza Strip, against the backdrop of internal disputes within Fatah. The last attack
in 2005 took place on 28 December. Gunmen from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades,
the armed wing of Fatah, stormed the CEC offices in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir El-
Balah and Gaza City. They forced CEC staff to close the offices at gunpoint. 41
Similar attacks took place on 13 December, when gunmen of the same group stormed
the CEC offices in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Deir El-Balah, Gaza and Nablus. They forced
staff out of the buildings at gunpoint. In addition, the CEC office in Rafah came
under attack on 14 November by a group calling itself the “Islamic Army”. In
addition, an armed group attacked the CEC office in the central part of the Strip on 8
May 2005. 42
NGO’s were also subject to attack. Unidentified assailants attacked the offices of Al-
Resala Newspaper in Gaza on 14 January 2005, causing significant damage. In
addition, on 31 May 2005, the offices of the Culture and Free Thought Association in
Khan Yunis came under attack as a result of cultural and social activities organized by
the association for children and youth.
Armed Clan Disputes
2005 was the worst year witnessed to date with respect to the number of casualties
caused by clashes between different clans and families. These clashes form part of
general problems relating security chaos and illegal proliferation of small arms,
alongside the absence of effective measures by the PNA to confront the deteriorating
situation. In December 2005, 7 civilians were killed and more than 40 injured,
41
Refer to the PCHR press release on this issue, dated 28 December 2005.
42
Refer to PCHR press releases on these issues, dated 9 May, 14 November, 12 December and 13
December 2005.
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