By the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Today as Israeli forces completed their redployment to the border areas of the Gaza Strip on Monday the 12th of September, 2005 one Palestinian youth was killed and another was injured while they were standing beside their home in the al Salam quarter of south-east of Rafah town, adjacent to the border with Egypt.
According to initial investigations by PCHR at about 15.00, Nafez Adnan A’tia, 34 years old, a resident of Rafah town, came under fire at al Salam quarter. A’tia was injured while he was crossing the border from Egyptian Rafah to Palestinian Rafah (Rafah was divided in due as a result of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel) he was injured by a bullet in the eye and a bullet in his left hand. He died instantly.
Mohammad Fa’isal Abu Ta’ha, 22 years old, a resident of the same area was injured by a gunshot in the left thigh while he was standing on the Palestinian side of the border.
Both Egyptian and Palestinian sides of Rafah saw attempts by large numbers of civilians today in an attempt to see relatives on the other side of the border – many of them have not been able to see each other since the Intifada broke out and Israel imposed severe collective punishment measures on the civilian population.
At the time of the incident both Egyptian and Palestinian forces had deployed in and around the border areas. No one from these forces prevented Palestinians from reaching the others.
PCHR condemns this killing and calls for an immediate investigation into it and the circumstances surrounding it. PCHR insists that the results of the investigation be made public and the perpetrators of this act be brought to justice.