NABLUS, Palestine
A Palestinian boy was killed at dawn on Friday after suffering severe burns following an attack by Jewish extremists on a village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.
“Ali Saeed Dawabsheh, 1, was burned to death after Jewish settlers attacked a house in Duma village in the West Bank's southern city of Nablus,” Abed Al-Rahim Susia, director of the Rafidia Hospital Center in Nablus, told Anadolu Agency. “Three other family members [the child's parents and his brother] arrived at the hospital suffering from second and third degree burns.”
Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official in charge of the settlements file, said the attack was carried out by Jewish settlers belonging to a militant group called “Price Tag.”
“The settlers attacked two houses in the village with Molotov cocktails and wrote racist slogans in Hebrew before fleeing from the scene,” Daghlas told Anadolu Agency.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian presidency held the Israeli government responsible for the attack.
“We are preparing this crime’s case and the cases of all the previous crimes of the [Israeli] occupation,” said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “We will send them to the International Criminal Court and no one will stop us.”
The Palestinian leadership said it would hold an urgent meeting to consider the grave situation in the Palestinian territories as a result of settler attacks, continuous settler incursions on al-Aqsa Mosque and Israeli provocations against the Palestinian people.
Palestinian faction Hamas, for its part, said Dawabsheh’s killing was a heinous crime.
“This crime is an unforgivable brutal act and requires an exceptional response from the Palestinian people and its resistance,” Hussam Badran, Hamas spokesperson in the West Bank, said in a statement.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in a statement, held the Israeli government responsible for this crime.
"This heinous crime is an integral part of Israeli terrorism," the PFLP said. "It requires an immediate escalation of the resistance and the declaration of war on the settlers and the settlements."
Lawmaker Qais Abdul Karim said the murder of the Palestinian baby falls under organized crime protected by the right-wing extremist government of Israel.
“It is not the first crime carried out by extremist settlers against Palestinians,” Qais Abdul Karim, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said. “The Israeli government bears full responsibility because of its savage settlement policy.”
The Arab Joint list in the Knesset (Israeli parliament), also held the Israeli government responsible for the attack.
“The Israeli government, which has built illegal settlements on Palestinian land, also protects these fascist settlers,” Jamal Zahalka , Arab-Israeli MK and member of Arab joint list, told Anadolu Agency. “This crime is not in isolation from the Israeli government, which has killed more than 400 children during last year’s military onslaught on the Gaza Strip.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. condemned the attack and said it hoped cooler heads would prevail.
“We urge all sides to maintain calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of this tragic incident,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a written statement.
The United Nations condemned, too, the outrage perpetrated against the Dawabsheh family and stressed the need for an immediate resolution of the conflict and an end to the occupation.
“I join in the strong condemnations issued by [the] Israeli and Palestinian government and political leaders,” said Nickolay Mladenov, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
The European Union called for an investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The Israeli authorities should also take resolute measures to protect the local population. We call for full accountability, effective law enforcement and zero tolerance for settler violence,” a spokesperson for EU's foreign affairs said in a statement on Friday.
“The EU reiterates its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy that seriously threatens the two-state solution,” it added.
RELATED STORY: UN condemns West Bank arson attack
