"I have ordered the security forces to use all means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice forthwith," Netanyahu said in a statement, adding the attack was an "act of terrorism in every respect."
Ali Saad Dawabsha, one-and-a-half year old, died shortly after sustaining serious burns. His mother and father, Riham and Saad, and their son Ahmad were also critically wounded, a military spokesperson told Xinhua, adding that they were evacuated to Israeli hospitals. Their home, in the Duma village near Nablus city, was burned to the ground.
The spokesperson said that a preliminary investigation suggests that suspects entered the village in the early hours of the day, setting ablaze two homes and sprayed graffiti reading "revenge" and "long live the Messiah" in Hebrew on the houses.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Ma'an news agency that they saw four settlers smashing windows of the homes before throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside. The villagers tried to chase them but they fled towards the nearby Ma'aleh Efraim settlement.
The Duma village, with a population of some 2,500, lies within the so-called Area C where Israel is in full control.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel is responsible for the incident. "Such a crime would not have occurred if the Israeli government did not insist on pursuing settlements and protecting settlers," he said in a statement on WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency.
Police's Nationalist Crime Unit launched an investigation into the attack, suspecting the torching was a "Price Tag" attack, a police spokeswoman said.
"Price Tags" are attacks perpetrated by far-right Jews in order to exact retribution for any Israeli government move to curb the expansion of the Jewish settlements. It includes vandalism and torching of Palestinians' property and holy sites, including mosques, Christian churches and cemeteries.
- Israel razed Wednesday two buildings in the settlement of Beit El, after the Supreme Court ordered its destruction because they were built on private Palestinian land. The move sparked a fierce protest.
Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has controlled it ever since.
The settlements are built on lands the Palestinians see as their future state, and are considered illegal under international law.
Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
31/7/15
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UN Middle East envoy strongly condemns deadly West Bank arson attack, calls for perpetrators to be brought to justice...
ReplyDeleteThe United Nations special envoy on the Middle East today expressed his outrage over the “heinous murder” and the “terrorist crime” perpetrated against a Palestinian family in the West Bank.
“I am outraged by today's vicious arson attack by suspected Jewish extremists in the Occupied West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus, which killed Palestinian toddler Ali, critically injured his mother and father, and injured his four-year old sibling,” the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, said in a statement issued today.
Joining in the “strong condemnations” issued by Israeli and Palestinian Governments and political leaders, the Special Coordinator called for a “full and prompt investigation” to bring the perpetrators of this “terrorist crime” to justice.
“This heinous murder was carried out for a political objective. We must not permit such acts to allow hate and violence to bring more personal tragedies and to bury any prospect of peace. This reinforces the need for an immediate resolution of the conflict and an end to the occupation.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51541#.VbuCYrUpr2Y
331/7/15