Israel indicts Jewish extremists for arson attack that killed Palestinian family
|
Version 0 of 1. Israel has indicted two Jewish extremists who are accused of carrying out an arson attack on a Palestinian home in July that killed a toddler and his parents in a case that has helped fuel the latest wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The long-awaited indictment follows months of investigations into a web of Jewish extremists operating in the West Bank. The indictment named Amiram Ben-Uliel, a 21-year-old West Bank settler, as the main suspect in the attack. A minor was charged as an accessory. Yinon Reuveni, 20, and another minor were charged for other violence against Palestinians. All four were charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation. The arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, while his mother, Riham, and father, Saad, later died of their wounds. Ali’s 4-year-old brother Ahmad survived. The firebombing, carried out at night while the family slept was condemned across the Israeli political spectrum and the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, pledged “zero tolerance” in the fight to bring the assailants to justice. Palestinians cite the Duma incident as a factor in a three-month wave of attacks and clashes stirring the region, saying they are frustrated by years of unchecked settler violence. Israel’s Shin Bet security service said on Sunday that the suspects admitted to carrying out the Duma attack, saying it was in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli settler by Palestinians a month earlier. It said all the suspects were part of a group of extremists that had carried out a series of attacks over the years in a religiously inspired campaign to undermine the government and sow fear among non-Jews. The indictment said Ben-Uliel admitted to spraying graffiti on the Dawabsheh family home and then tossing a firebomb through a bedroom window before fleeing the scene. Ben-Uliel’s parents said they believed he was innocent and that he was tortured during interrogation. Nasser Dawabsheh, Saad’s brother, said the indictments were not enough. “It’s clear the Israeli institutions are not serious,” he said. “It’s clear there was an organisation behind this crime, even the media knows that. And the government was not serious in preventing it and is not serious in pursuing the killers.” |