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Jewish Arsonists Suspected in West Bank Attack That Killed Palestinian Toddler Jewish Arsonists Suspected in West Bank Attack That Killed Palestinian Toddler
(about 3 hours later)
DUMA, West Bank — A Palestinian toddler was burned to death and his 4-year-old brother and parents were critically injured early Friday morning in an arson attack on their home in the West Bank. DUMA, West Bank — Residents of this Palestinian hamlet still awake on a hot summer night heard the screams and rushed to the Dawabsheh home. Outside, Saad, 32, lay writhing on the ground. Nearby, his wife Riham was still on fire. Their 4-year-old son was could be heard cyring inside the burning house and his brother, 18-month-old Ali, was already dead.
Witnesses and officials attributed the attack to Jewish extremists because of Hebrew graffiti sprayed nearby. “Revenge!” was written on one wall, next to a Star of David. Witnesses and officials attributed the attack on Friday to Jewish extremists because of Hebrew graffiti sprayed nearby. “Revenge!” was written on one wall, next to a Star of David.
The firebombing in the hilltop hamlet of Duma was branded as terrorism by Israeli and Palestinian politicians, and shocked consciences on both sides of the simmering conflict that has boiled into renewed violence in recent weeks. Two witnesses said they saw two masked men outside the house watching as the family burned.
Officials and neighbors here identified the dead child as 18-month old Ali Saad Dawabsheh, and said his parents, Saad, 32, who worked building homes in nearby Israeli settlements, and Riham, a 27-year-old teacher, were being treated in Israeli hospitals along with their other son, Ahmad. “The hardest thing for me, was that there were two burning people on the ground, and two people were just standing over them,” said a neighbor, Ibrahim Dawabsheh, who like many in this Palestinian village shared a common last name. “They didn’t even care that the child was still crying inside.”
Some of the 3,000 residents of the village gathered with stony faces around the family’s charred home, where a relative had tossed a baby bottle still sloshing with milk and photographs of the young family atop a pile of blackened furniture and burned blankets. Israeli and Palestinian politicians branded the firebombing in this hilltop village of 3,000 as terrorism, the latest incident in a summer marked by repeated violence.
The firebombing was the most recent incident in a summer marked by unsettling violence. Dozens of residents of the village gathered around the family’s charred home, where a relative had tossed a baby bottle still sloshing with milk atop a pile of blackened furniture and burned blankets.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called it a “brutal assassination” and said he held the Israeli government “fully responsible.” He called the attack “a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism.” Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called the arson attack a “brutal assassination” and said it was “a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism.”
“This is the consequence of a culture of hate funded and incentivized by the Israeli government and the impunity granted by the international community,” Mr. Erekat said in a statement. “We call upon the international community to end its policy of empty statements and to finally do something to protect Palestinians.” President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said that he would ask the International Criminal Court to investigate the attack as a war crime, local news sites reported. “Steps beyond words also have to be taken,” Mr. Abbas said.
President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said that he would ask the International Criminal Court to investigate the attack as a war crime, local news sites reported, and that Israeli expressions of outrage were not sufficient. “Steps beyond words also have to be taken,” Mr. Abbas said. Israeli politicians across the spectrum also quickly condemned the arson as “a terror attack,” a term usually reserved for Palestinian violence against Jews.
Israeli politicians across the spectrum also quickly condemned the arson as barbaric, heinous and “a terror attack,” a term usually reserved for Palestinian violence against Jews. Members of Parliament, President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ahmad and Mrs. Dawabsheh in the hospital Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ahmad and Mrs. Dawabsheh in the hospital Friday afternoon where they were in critical condition.
“It is hard when you stand beside the bed of such a young child, and you know that his younger brother, who was a year-and-a-half-old, was murdered here and you ask for what was this awful act,” Mr. Netanyahu said afterward. “We are shocked by it, we condemn it fully, the entire Israeli government and all the citizens of Israel. We decry it as a terrorist crime. Terrorism is terrorism. We need to fight it every place it comes from. We will capture these murderers. We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring them to justice and to see justice served to them.” “We are shocked by it, we condemn it fully, the entire Israeli government and all the citizens of Israel. We decry it as a terrorist crime,” Mr. Netanyahu said afterward. “We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring them to justice and to see justice served to them.”
The attack revived painful memories of the abduction and killing last July of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, who was burned alive by Jewish extremists after he was snatched from his East Jerusalem neighborhood. The past month, while hardly comparable to last year’s war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, has seen a number of deadly incidents. The attack revived painful memories of the abduction and killing last July of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, who was burned alive by Jewish extremists after he was snatched from his East Jerusalem neighborhood.
Four Palestinians have been fatally shot by Israeli soldiers in recent weeks during arrest raids and other clashes. Just hours before the Duma firebombing, an ultra-Orthodox Jew was arrested for stabbing six participants in the Jerusalem gay-pride parade, weeks after he was released from prison for a mirror-image attack a decade before. The past month, while hardly comparable to last year’s war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, has been marked by an unsettling string of violent incidents. Four Palestinians have been fatally shot by Israeli soldiers in recent weeks. Palestinians have also targeted Israelis, including Malachi Rosenfeld, 26, who was fatally shot by Palestinian militants a month ago in the West Bank while he and four friends were driving home from a basketball game.
Duma, a village of boxy, concrete homes that is reachable only by rocky mountain roads, is very close to Shilo, a settlement near which Malachi Rosenfeld, 26, was fatally shot by Palestinian militants a month ago while he and four friends were driving home from a basketball game. The Israeli military announced on July 19 that it had arrested several members of what it called a “Hamas terror cell” accused of Mr. Rosenfeld’s killing and another shooting two days earlier. The firebombing was quickly attributed to the movement Israelis call “price tag,” in which extremist Jews attack Palestinian holy places or property in retribution for their own government’s actions regarding settlements. Settlers had to be forcibly removed from two apartment blocks that were bulldozed in Beit El this week, though the government pushed forward the construction of 300 more housing units.
Yinon Magal, a member of the Israeli Parliament from the pro-settler Jewish Home faction, noted that Thursday was the 30th day since Mr. Rosenfeld’s death, a significant mourning milestone for religious Jews. “I suppose there is some sort of message here,” he said in a radio interview. It could have been revenge: Duma lies near several Jewish settlements, including Shilo, where Mr. Rosenfeld was killed.
Besides “revenge,” there was more Hebrew graffiti at the site of the attack Friday in Duma that read, “Long live the Messiah king!” with a crown next to it. The Israeli military announced on July 19 that it had arrested several Hamas members they accused of Mr. Rosenfeld’s killing and another shooting two days earlier.
The firebombing could have been what Israelis call a “price tag” — an attack against Palestinians by extremist Jews in retribution for government actions against settlements, like this week’s move to demolish two apartment blocks in Beit El. Or some Israelis suggested it was a retaliatory attack for the shooting of Mr. Rosenfeld. Palestinians and their supporters questioned whether the perpetrators of Friday’s arson attack would be treated similarly to Palestinians who kill Israelis. Israel has long been criticized for not vigilantly investigating price-tag attacks or punishing their offenders. Gilad Erdan, minister of internal security, said Friday that he was giving the Duma case “top priority” and that the suspects “should end their lives behind bars.”
Mr. Magal and leaders of his right-wing party were among an array of politicians who used the bluntest possible language to distance themselves from the arson in Duma. Following the attack in Duma, Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement, called for a “day of rage” on Friday. Local news media outlets reported some clashes with Israeli soldiers Friday afternoon in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, Hebron and near a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah; one Palestinian man was shot in the abdomen, a medic said.
“This is not a Jewish act,” he said. “This is not a moral act. This is a terrible act. We do not do such things. This is not our way.” Israeli troops also shot a Palestinian man near Ramallah, who they said threw a lit projectile at them. In Gaza, a Palestinian teenager was shot dead as he tried to scale a fence to enter Israel, a military spokesman said.
Palestinians and their supporters questioned whether the perpetrators would be treated similarly to Palestinians who kill Israelis. Israel has long been criticized for not vigilantly investigating price-tag attacks or punishing their offenders, but Gilad Erdan, minister of internal security, said Friday that he was giving the Duma case “top priority” and that the suspects “should end their lives behind bars.” Witnesses said that they saw masked men in black clothing throw firebombs through the windows of two homes near the village entrance around 2 a.m., shortly after the family returned from visiting relatives.
Mr. Netanyahu’s spokesman, Mark Regev, criticized Palestinian leader for blaming the Israeli government, saying that attacks by Palestinians on Israelis had not brought the same condemnation and that “there certainly has not been the police work to bring them to justice.” Mr. Dawabsheh, the neighbor, and another eyewitness, Ali Raqi, 21, both said they saw two men standing over the couple, their clothes still alight.
Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement, called for a “day of fury” Friday in response to the Duma firebombing, and a member of the Red Crescent Society said one Palestinian man had been shot in the abdomen in clashes with Israeli security forces, which were deployed around settlements and on main roads in the West Bank amid concerns that the violence would escalate. “I reached the house, and I found Saad, lying on the ground,” said Mr. Raqi, who was awake, unable to sleep from the heat. “Riham was there, by the well,” he said. “Riham told me, I have a son, for the sake of God, help him.”
Israeli soldiers and military police officers had rushed to Duma after the arson attack to interview witnesses and collect evidence, residents said. They checked cars on the roads leading in and out of the village. The masked men fled, and residents pulled the parents and the 4-year-old Ahmad, to a nearby house, leaving a trail of blood from the backdoor to the living room.
Witnesses said that they saw four masked men in black clothing throw firebombs through the windows of two homes near the village entrance around 2 a.m. and that Duma residents had chased them toward the nearby settlement of Maale Efraim; two witnesses said they had seen two of the men standing over the burning bodies. They could not enter the blazing bedroom to save Ali; firefighters later pulled out the child’s body. An autopsy conducted by the Palestinian Justice Ministry said soot was found inside the baby’s body, indicating that he was breathing when his body caught fire, the Palestinian news agency Maan reported.
One relative of the Dawabsheh family, Ali Raqi, 22, said he saw smoke pluming from the house as he sat on his roof early Friday, trying to find a cool place to sleep during a heat wave that has gripped the area. “I ran toward the smoke,” he recalled. “I reached the house and I found Saad lying on the ground.” One neighbor, Hanin Dawabshe, who accompanied the mother, Riham, to the hospital said she kept asking about her children.
Another witness, Ibrahim Dawabsheh, who like many in the village shares the same last name, said he had seen the attackers. “I said, ‘They are O.K., they are in our house,’ even though I had no idea what happened to the children,” she said.
“The hardest thing for me, was that there were two burning people on the ground – and two people were just standing over them,” he said. “They didn’t even care that the child was still crying inside.”