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Palestinian crime rate spikes, especially in Gaza

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, December 8, 2006

RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Authority has reported a sharp increase in internecine crime.

The PA-aligned Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights said more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by other Palestinians during 2006. The group said this was a 50 percent increase over 2005.

In a report released on Dec. 4, the commission said most of the victims of Palestinian violence were from the Gaza Strip. They said 234 Gaza residents were killed from January through November 2006, Middle East Newsline reported.

Palestinian casualties from internecine violence has risen sharply over the last two years. In 2004, 93 Palestinians were reported killed by other Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The figure nearly doubled to 176 in 2005.

The commission said clan violence comprised a major element in Palestinian casualties in 2006. For the first 11 months of the year, 88 people were killed in gun battles between clans, most of them in the g Gaza Strip.

The commission also cited what the report termed politically-motivated killings. In 2006, 41 people were killed in political violence, largely between Fatah and Hamas.

The killing of Palestinian women by their families also increased. The commission reported 27 cases of so-called honor killings, in which a woman deemed errant under Islamic law was killed by her brother or father.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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