Name: Hamzi T.
Date of incident: 27 December 2011
Age: 12
Location: Gaza Strip
Nature of incident: Shot near border wtih Israel
On 27 December 2011, a 12-year-old boy from Gaza is shot in his left leg whilst travelling to a vegetable market on a donkey cart, approximately 1,000 metres from the border with Israel.
Hamzi lives in Central Gaza, “with my parents and seven siblings, about 700 metres away from the border.” Hamzi explains that “as we live near the eastern border, we are used to hearing gunshots and tanks moving across the border.”
“On the morning on 27 December 2011,” Hamzi recalls, “I heard sporadic gunshots from the observation towers across the border, but I did not give it much thought. At around 9:00 am, my father asked me to go to the vegetable market, about one kilometre to the west, to buy some vegetables.” Hamzi fetched the donkey cart and set off. “I had travelled for about 300 metres when I started hearing gunshots, and I felt bullets whizzing by my head, so I ducked down to avoid them.” However, within seconds Hamzi was hit. “I felt severe pain in my left leg. I looked at it and it was bleeding. I threw myself on the ground shouting ‘Help me! Help me!” At the time of the shooting, Hamzi was approximately 1,000 metres from the border with Israel.
Hamzi explains that “there were some people working in their fields nearby, and they rushed towards me. I told them I had been shot in the leg. At this stage the shooting had stopped. They said that one of the neighbours was an ambulance driver, so they called for him to take me to hospital. He came and took me to Shuhada’ Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. The doctors took me to the operating room immediately. I was screaming in pain. They gave me an anaesthetic and removed the bullet from my thigh. After that, I was transferred to the orthopaedic ward on the first floor. At around 6:00 pm, I was discharged and the doctors told my father to bring me back to the hospital so they could check on my injury. I am home now and on a sick leave from school until I can walk again.”
Since March 2010, DCI-Palestine has documented 30 cases of children who have been shot or shelled in Gaza whilst working close to the border with Israel. In 20 of these cases (67 percent), the children report being injured whilst on or outside the 300 metre exclusion zone unilaterally imposed by the Israeli army. Under international law, the targeting of civilians is absolutely prohibited. If you would like to take action, please see our Urgent Appeal – Children of the Gravel (UA 4/10).
Date of incident: 27 December 2011
Age: 12
Location: Gaza Strip
Nature of incident: Shot near border wtih Israel
On 27 December 2011, a 12-year-old boy from Gaza is shot in his left leg whilst travelling to a vegetable market on a donkey cart, approximately 1,000 metres from the border with Israel.
Hamzi lives in Central Gaza, “with my parents and seven siblings, about 700 metres away from the border.” Hamzi explains that “as we live near the eastern border, we are used to hearing gunshots and tanks moving across the border.”
“On the morning on 27 December 2011,” Hamzi recalls, “I heard sporadic gunshots from the observation towers across the border, but I did not give it much thought. At around 9:00 am, my father asked me to go to the vegetable market, about one kilometre to the west, to buy some vegetables.” Hamzi fetched the donkey cart and set off. “I had travelled for about 300 metres when I started hearing gunshots, and I felt bullets whizzing by my head, so I ducked down to avoid them.” However, within seconds Hamzi was hit. “I felt severe pain in my left leg. I looked at it and it was bleeding. I threw myself on the ground shouting ‘Help me! Help me!” At the time of the shooting, Hamzi was approximately 1,000 metres from the border with Israel.
Hamzi explains that “there were some people working in their fields nearby, and they rushed towards me. I told them I had been shot in the leg. At this stage the shooting had stopped. They said that one of the neighbours was an ambulance driver, so they called for him to take me to hospital. He came and took me to Shuhada’ Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah. The doctors took me to the operating room immediately. I was screaming in pain. They gave me an anaesthetic and removed the bullet from my thigh. After that, I was transferred to the orthopaedic ward on the first floor. At around 6:00 pm, I was discharged and the doctors told my father to bring me back to the hospital so they could check on my injury. I am home now and on a sick leave from school until I can walk again.”
Since March 2010, DCI-Palestine has documented 30 cases of children who have been shot or shelled in Gaza whilst working close to the border with Israel. In 20 of these cases (67 percent), the children report being injured whilst on or outside the 300 metre exclusion zone unilaterally imposed by the Israeli army. Under international law, the targeting of civilians is absolutely prohibited. If you would like to take action, please see our Urgent Appeal – Children of the Gravel (UA 4/10).
13 dec 2011
Twenty-eight cases of children being shot at by the border fence between Israel and the Gaza strip whilst gathering building materials like gravel, or working by the fence, have been documented by Defence for Children International in their latest report 'Children of Gravel'.The shootings reportedly took place between March 26 2010 and October 3, 2011, according to Defence for Children International (DCI)-Palestine Section . According to DCI, the Israeli soldiers often fire warning shots to scare off workers by the border.
Their report also states that 'these soldiers sometimes shoot and kill the donkeys used by the workers, and also target the workers, usually, but not always, shooting at their legs.'
'That children are in a situation where they need to work to help their parents meet basic family needs is an infringement of their rights. That children are in the line of fire to meet these needs is appalling,' says World Vision Programme Director for Gaza, Siobhan Kimmerle.
Forty percent of Gaza's population is unemployed and 80% of the population is completely reliant on foreign assistance. In addition, Israeli restrictions limit the amount of construction material entering the Gaza borders for reconstruction and development. As a result, many workers collect gravel and sell it to builders to use for concrete. The children among the gravel collectors earn about US$8-$14 per day to help support their families.
The North Gaza governorate is one of the most impoverished governorates in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and the neediest in the Gaza Strip. In comparison to the other governorates in the Gaza Strip, North Gaza's food insecurity rate is the highest at 60% and the unemployment rate the second highest at 39%. World Vision works with communities in North Gaza to help improve family livelihoods and help ensure their children are cared for and protected.
Currently there are 2,411 registered children in World Vision's North Gaza Area Development Programme, with 7,061 beneficiaries and as many as 22,594 indirect beneficiaries. World Vision's programming in North Gaza includes rural development, job creation, and child empowerment projects.
The blockade of the Gaza Strip, including Israeli restrictions on items entering the borders, continue to harm Gaza's deteriorating economy. The Israeli military continues to restrict Palestinians' access to the land on the Gaza side of the Israeli-Gaza border, maintaining that anyone that comes within 300 metres of the borders puts his/her life at risk, which has had a negative impact on the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians living in that area. DCI's documentation indicates that children have been shot at while being between 30 to 800 metres within the Israeli border fence.
To read the DCI's Urgent Appeal-Children of the Gravel, please visit http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/urgent-appeal-ua-410-children-gravel.
World Vision continues to work for the well-being of children and advocate for an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. World Vision believes that this conflict threatens the lives of all Palestinian and Israeli children, and one of the greatest obstacles to achieving fullness of life for each and every child is the ongoing conflict and the perpetuation of violence.
Their report also states that 'these soldiers sometimes shoot and kill the donkeys used by the workers, and also target the workers, usually, but not always, shooting at their legs.'
'That children are in a situation where they need to work to help their parents meet basic family needs is an infringement of their rights. That children are in the line of fire to meet these needs is appalling,' says World Vision Programme Director for Gaza, Siobhan Kimmerle.
Forty percent of Gaza's population is unemployed and 80% of the population is completely reliant on foreign assistance. In addition, Israeli restrictions limit the amount of construction material entering the Gaza borders for reconstruction and development. As a result, many workers collect gravel and sell it to builders to use for concrete. The children among the gravel collectors earn about US$8-$14 per day to help support their families.
The North Gaza governorate is one of the most impoverished governorates in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) and the neediest in the Gaza Strip. In comparison to the other governorates in the Gaza Strip, North Gaza's food insecurity rate is the highest at 60% and the unemployment rate the second highest at 39%. World Vision works with communities in North Gaza to help improve family livelihoods and help ensure their children are cared for and protected.
Currently there are 2,411 registered children in World Vision's North Gaza Area Development Programme, with 7,061 beneficiaries and as many as 22,594 indirect beneficiaries. World Vision's programming in North Gaza includes rural development, job creation, and child empowerment projects.
The blockade of the Gaza Strip, including Israeli restrictions on items entering the borders, continue to harm Gaza's deteriorating economy. The Israeli military continues to restrict Palestinians' access to the land on the Gaza side of the Israeli-Gaza border, maintaining that anyone that comes within 300 metres of the borders puts his/her life at risk, which has had a negative impact on the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians living in that area. DCI's documentation indicates that children have been shot at while being between 30 to 800 metres within the Israeli border fence.
To read the DCI's Urgent Appeal-Children of the Gravel, please visit http://www.dci-palestine.org/documents/urgent-appeal-ua-410-children-gravel.
World Vision continues to work for the well-being of children and advocate for an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. World Vision believes that this conflict threatens the lives of all Palestinian and Israeli children, and one of the greatest obstacles to achieving fullness of life for each and every child is the ongoing conflict and the perpetuation of violence.
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