The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) has called on the ruling Hamas government in Gaza to investigate the kidnap and murder of a 40-year-old man. The victim was kidnapped by masked gunmen last Thursday night from a relative's home in the al-Daraj neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, according to PCHR.
At 8:00 a.m. Friday, his wife testified, his lifeless body was dumped at the entrance of Shifa Hospital with two bullet holes in his head. But the story actually began a couple of weeks after the Hamas terrorists had seized control of Gaza and arrested her husband. The widow's actual testimony about the internal terror campaign conducted by Hamas follows:
"On 25 July 2007, the Internal Security Service (ISS) arrested my husband, Hamza al-Shoubaki, and we did not know anything about him. We submitted complaints to human rights organizations and contacted members of Hamas to find his whereabouts, but all our efforts failed.
"Approximately four months later, I visited my husband at the ISS prison in al-Saraya security compound after I had received a phone call from him. He seemed weak and there were clear signs of beating and torture on his body. Later, my husband appeared before a military court and a number of court sessions were held to consider his case.
"On 28 December 2008, my husband attempted to flee from the prison after the Israelis had bombarded al-Saraya compound, but he was abducted by militants. They fired at his legs and dumped him in Sheikh 'Ejlin neighborhood in the southwest of Gaza City.
"We moved my husband to our house, where he received medical treatment for one month. On 4 and 18 February [2009], a number of gunmen came to our house. They claimed to be members of the ISS and asked about my husband, who was not at home.
"At approximately 22:00 on Thursday, 26 February, masked gunmen abducted my husband from a relative's house and took him to an unknown destination. At around 08:00 the following day, Friday [27 February] we received a phone call from Shifa Hospital. The hospital informed us that my husband had been admitted. His brothers went to hospital and found that he had been shot dead. They saw signs of beating throughout his body."
Amnesty Int'l Documents Beatings, Torture in Gaza
The human rights organization Amnesty International charged Hamas last month with "abductions, killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of 'collaborating with Israel' as well as opponents and critics."
In a report published February 11, the organization noted "At least two dozen [PA men in Gaza] have been kneecapped, beaten or otherwise tortured or ill-treated." Most, said Amnesty Int'l, were abducted from their homes. However, some were kidnapped even from the hospitals where they were recovering from illnesses or wounds.
The allegations came as the result of eyewitness accounts that were gathered by a fact-finding team present in Gaza during and after the IDF's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead, which ran from December 27, 2008 to January 18, 2009.
Amnesty International called on Hamas to end its campaign of internal terror and agree to an independent, impartial and nonpartisan commission of inquiry.