Armed Gunmen Attack Jawwal Headquarters in Gaza

A gang of 20 armed gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Palestinian GSM network operator, Jawwal last week. The gunmen terrorized Jawwal employees, expelled them by force and caused wide-spread property damage as they fired their weapons within the offices. Security forces who were present were unable to control the situation and a civil police officer standing guard outside was attacked.

Jawwal says that while it strives to build a better life and provide work opportunities for as many Palestinians as possible there are a group of people who lack loyalty and nationalism and actively seek to obstruct others' success. Such attacks do not break the will of the group and only inspires them to succeed against all odds and challenges, regardless of who the source of the obstacles may be, Israeli or Palestinians. They will not succeed in breaking their spirit or their mission to optimize the national economy.

Paltel Group, the parent of Jawwal - which is represented by 4,000 employees called on the President, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior to take swift, decisive actions against the people behind these cowardly actions and to protect national companies and citizens.

Paltel Group is considering what actions to take in protest of these crimes and the reaction will be based on whether the Palestinian Authority fulfills its promise of taking real measures to punish the perpetrators and ensure the safety of valued Palestinian employees and companies from the minority whose goal is to destroy all significant contributions to the nation.

The Mobile World notes that Jawwal is estimated to have ended last year with 600,000 customers, a share of just over 50% of the total market in the Palestinian Territories. The balance is held by the four Israeli mobile operators whose services are also available in the West Bank and Gaza. In total there were just under 1.2 million total customers in the Palestinian market at the end of 2005, equating to penetration rate of about 31%. The regulator is lobbying the Israeli government to release spectrum for a second Palestinian operator to be able to launch service."

Posted to the site on 22nd May 2006