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Dawabsha family, july 31 2015 burned by settlers |
20 dec 2015
A member of the Israeli security forces inspects a Palestinian house that was set on fire in the West Bank village of Duma
Israeli forces and intelligence officers overnight Saturday brought a suspect accused of involvement in an arson attack on a Palestinian family to the village of Duma in order to “reenact” the fatal crime, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official who monitors settlement activity in the northern occupied West Bank, told Ma’an that locals in Duma saw Israeli forces arrive to the village around midnight.
Forces remained in the area for around three hours during which locals reported that an Israeli settler brought by the forces "reenacted the crime" which killed three members of the Dawabsha family, Daghlas said.
Investigations into the crime -- labelled by international bodies and Israeli leadership as a terrorist attack -- have been ongoing.
Suspects belonging to a Jewish terror organization on July 31 set the home of the Dawabsha family ablaze, killing 18-month-old Ali Saad immediately. The infant’s parents, Riham and Saad, later died from severe burns.
The only surviving member of the family was Ahmad, 4, who sustained serious burns.
The majority of information regarding investigations into the attack remains under a gag-order by Israeli police, however news broke on Dec. 3 that several youths connected to Jewish extremist organizations had been arrested in November and held under administrative detention.
Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet announced Sunday that progress had been made in the investigation, but no further details were disclosed, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
The agency recently came under fire after lawyers for the extremists -- reportedly denied access to their clients until last week -- accused the Shin Bet of using torture during interrogations.
In response, the agency cautioned against “a proactive and ongoing effort to slander the organization and its work, and to disrupt its activities” in investigating the deadly attack.
Shin Bet said in a statement Friday that activity by a Jewish terror organization had “contributed to instability in the region,” warning against the potential danger of growing influence of the group against the Israeli government.
"This organization adheres to an extreme, anti-Zionist ideology, that has set itself the goal of violently overthrowing the Israeli government," the Shin Bet said, according to to Israeli media
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi last week denounced Israel’s failure to prosecute the suspects responsible for the Dawabsha arson attack as effectively condoning violent behavior of Israeli settlers and extremists.
“When it comes to Jewish criminality or terrorism against Palestinian victims, the legal system in Israel seems to fall apart,” the PLO official said in a statement.
Contention over Israel’s failure to bring the perpetrators of last summer’s terrorist attack to justice has continued to contribute to ongoing tension in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israeli forces and intelligence officers overnight Saturday brought a suspect accused of involvement in an arson attack on a Palestinian family to the village of Duma in order to “reenact” the fatal crime, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official who monitors settlement activity in the northern occupied West Bank, told Ma’an that locals in Duma saw Israeli forces arrive to the village around midnight.
Forces remained in the area for around three hours during which locals reported that an Israeli settler brought by the forces "reenacted the crime" which killed three members of the Dawabsha family, Daghlas said.
Investigations into the crime -- labelled by international bodies and Israeli leadership as a terrorist attack -- have been ongoing.
Suspects belonging to a Jewish terror organization on July 31 set the home of the Dawabsha family ablaze, killing 18-month-old Ali Saad immediately. The infant’s parents, Riham and Saad, later died from severe burns.
The only surviving member of the family was Ahmad, 4, who sustained serious burns.
The majority of information regarding investigations into the attack remains under a gag-order by Israeli police, however news broke on Dec. 3 that several youths connected to Jewish extremist organizations had been arrested in November and held under administrative detention.
Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet announced Sunday that progress had been made in the investigation, but no further details were disclosed, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
The agency recently came under fire after lawyers for the extremists -- reportedly denied access to their clients until last week -- accused the Shin Bet of using torture during interrogations.
In response, the agency cautioned against “a proactive and ongoing effort to slander the organization and its work, and to disrupt its activities” in investigating the deadly attack.
Shin Bet said in a statement Friday that activity by a Jewish terror organization had “contributed to instability in the region,” warning against the potential danger of growing influence of the group against the Israeli government.
"This organization adheres to an extreme, anti-Zionist ideology, that has set itself the goal of violently overthrowing the Israeli government," the Shin Bet said, according to to Israeli media
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi last week denounced Israel’s failure to prosecute the suspects responsible for the Dawabsha arson attack as effectively condoning violent behavior of Israeli settlers and extremists.
“When it comes to Jewish criminality or terrorism against Palestinian victims, the legal system in Israel seems to fall apart,” the PLO official said in a statement.
Contention over Israel’s failure to bring the perpetrators of last summer’s terrorist attack to justice has continued to contribute to ongoing tension in the occupied Palestinian territory.
18 dec 2015
Israeli soldiers at the Israeli outpost of Achiya near the Palestinian village of Duma on Aug. 4, 2015, a week after a deadly arson attack on the Dawabsha home.
Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet on Thursday cautioned that a Jewish terror organization is seeking to “violently overthrow” the Israeli government, Israeli media reported.
Israeli media across the board described the public statement issued by the security agency as a rare response to actors who have slandered the Shin Bet in a campaign to defend Jewish extremists responsible for a fatal arson attack on a Palestinian home last summer.
Suspects belonging to a Jewish terror organization on July 31 set the home of the Dawabsha family ablaze, killing an 18-month-old immediately. The infant’s parent’s later died from severe burns.
"A Jewish terror organization has been under investigation recently, whose activity is suspected to include serious terror attacks that endangered life and harmed religious sanctity and property," the Shin Bet statement said, according to Israeli media.
"This organization adheres to an extreme, anti-Zionist ideology, that has set itself the goal of violently overthrowing the Israeli government," the Shin Bet continued.
"The terror attacks that are suspected to have been carried out by the organization led to, among other things, the murder of three innocent Palestinians. This contributed to instability in the region and worsened the security situation," the agency added.
Despite the threat the terror organization has posed to both Palestinian and Israeli sides, the Shin Bet said that several actors have been working to prevent progress by the agency in its investigations of the group.
"To our regret, since the arrests the Shin Bet has identified a proactive and ongoing effort to slander the organization and its work, and to disrupt its activities.
"This attempt deserves full condemnation and will not deter the Shin Bet from continuing its work as envoys of citizens of the State of Israel, in line with national values," the agency said.
The Shin Bet statement came hours after lawyers representing the suspects held a press conference accusing the agency for using methods of torture during interrogation.
Concerns among the Israeli public as well as the international community of the rising influence of extremists on policies of the Israeli government have been voiced repeatedly in past months.
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi on Wednesday denounced Israel’s failure to prosecute the suspects responsible for the Dawabsha arson attack as effectively condoning violent behavior of Israeli settlers.
“When it comes to Jewish criminality or terrorism against Palestinian victims, the legal system in Israel seems to fall apart,” the PLO official said in a statement.
While Israeli leadership at the time condemned the Dawabsha attack as "terrorism" and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, Israeli rights group B'Tselem slammed the reaction as "empty rhetoric."
"Official condemnations of this attack are empty rhetoric as long as politicians continue their policy of avoiding enforcement of the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians, and do not deal with the public climate and the incitement which serve as backdrop to these acts," the group said at the time.
Contention over Israel’s failure to bring the perpetrators of last summer’s terrorist attack to justice meanwhile continues to contribute to ongoing tension in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet on Thursday cautioned that a Jewish terror organization is seeking to “violently overthrow” the Israeli government, Israeli media reported.
Israeli media across the board described the public statement issued by the security agency as a rare response to actors who have slandered the Shin Bet in a campaign to defend Jewish extremists responsible for a fatal arson attack on a Palestinian home last summer.
Suspects belonging to a Jewish terror organization on July 31 set the home of the Dawabsha family ablaze, killing an 18-month-old immediately. The infant’s parent’s later died from severe burns.
"A Jewish terror organization has been under investigation recently, whose activity is suspected to include serious terror attacks that endangered life and harmed religious sanctity and property," the Shin Bet statement said, according to Israeli media.
"This organization adheres to an extreme, anti-Zionist ideology, that has set itself the goal of violently overthrowing the Israeli government," the Shin Bet continued.
"The terror attacks that are suspected to have been carried out by the organization led to, among other things, the murder of three innocent Palestinians. This contributed to instability in the region and worsened the security situation," the agency added.
Despite the threat the terror organization has posed to both Palestinian and Israeli sides, the Shin Bet said that several actors have been working to prevent progress by the agency in its investigations of the group.
"To our regret, since the arrests the Shin Bet has identified a proactive and ongoing effort to slander the organization and its work, and to disrupt its activities.
"This attempt deserves full condemnation and will not deter the Shin Bet from continuing its work as envoys of citizens of the State of Israel, in line with national values," the agency said.
The Shin Bet statement came hours after lawyers representing the suspects held a press conference accusing the agency for using methods of torture during interrogation.
Concerns among the Israeli public as well as the international community of the rising influence of extremists on policies of the Israeli government have been voiced repeatedly in past months.
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi on Wednesday denounced Israel’s failure to prosecute the suspects responsible for the Dawabsha arson attack as effectively condoning violent behavior of Israeli settlers.
“When it comes to Jewish criminality or terrorism against Palestinian victims, the legal system in Israel seems to fall apart,” the PLO official said in a statement.
While Israeli leadership at the time condemned the Dawabsha attack as "terrorism" and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, Israeli rights group B'Tselem slammed the reaction as "empty rhetoric."
"Official condemnations of this attack are empty rhetoric as long as politicians continue their policy of avoiding enforcement of the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians, and do not deal with the public climate and the incitement which serve as backdrop to these acts," the group said at the time.
Contention over Israel’s failure to bring the perpetrators of last summer’s terrorist attack to justice meanwhile continues to contribute to ongoing tension in the occupied Palestinian territory.
17 dec 2015
The Dawabsheh family, which lost three of its members in an arson attack on their home in Duma, said Thursday prosecuting the Israeli criminals has priority over their right to compensation.
Family member Naser Dawabsheh said his relatives were the victims of Israeli settler terrorism.
He added that the family has long been receiving compensation offer from the Israeli occupation authorities to have their self-image whitewashed for such a horrendous crime.
“Though compensation is one of the families’ undeniable rights . . . our primary concern is to have the Israeli perpetrators impeached,” he said.
“Even Netanyahu’s government should be held accountable since it is the party that passes laws to protect Israeli criminals,” he added.
“At least five Israelis committed the crime. It turned out later that they have ties with the occupation government. They were arrested following the state of humiliation the government found itself in after the crime,” Naser further stated.
The Israeli Ynet website said the Dawabsheh family will not receive compensation from the occupation government, despite promises made earlier by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response to a parliamentary question from Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen, Israel’s deputy war minister Eli Ben-Dahan said on Wednesday that the Dawabsheh family was not entitled for compensations because the law that ensures recompense to victims of terror attacks only applies to Israeli citizens.
The Dawabsheh family home in the village of Duma was set on fire on July 31, 2015. Their 18-month-old son Ali was burned to death in the fire, while his four-year-old brother Ahmad and parents Saed and Reham suffered extensive burns and were fighting for their lives at the hospital.
Saed Dawabsheh succumbed to his wounds a little over a week later, while Reham Dawabsheh breathed her last about five weeks after the attack.
Four-year-old Ahmad is the only member of the family to survive, after having suffered burns all over his body.
Family member Naser Dawabsheh said his relatives were the victims of Israeli settler terrorism.
He added that the family has long been receiving compensation offer from the Israeli occupation authorities to have their self-image whitewashed for such a horrendous crime.
“Though compensation is one of the families’ undeniable rights . . . our primary concern is to have the Israeli perpetrators impeached,” he said.
“Even Netanyahu’s government should be held accountable since it is the party that passes laws to protect Israeli criminals,” he added.
“At least five Israelis committed the crime. It turned out later that they have ties with the occupation government. They were arrested following the state of humiliation the government found itself in after the crime,” Naser further stated.
The Israeli Ynet website said the Dawabsheh family will not receive compensation from the occupation government, despite promises made earlier by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response to a parliamentary question from Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen, Israel’s deputy war minister Eli Ben-Dahan said on Wednesday that the Dawabsheh family was not entitled for compensations because the law that ensures recompense to victims of terror attacks only applies to Israeli citizens.
The Dawabsheh family home in the village of Duma was set on fire on July 31, 2015. Their 18-month-old son Ali was burned to death in the fire, while his four-year-old brother Ahmad and parents Saed and Reham suffered extensive burns and were fighting for their lives at the hospital.
Saed Dawabsheh succumbed to his wounds a little over a week later, while Reham Dawabsheh breathed her last about five weeks after the attack.
Four-year-old Ahmad is the only member of the family to survive, after having suffered burns all over his body.
15 dec 2015
The Israeli Ainister of Defense, Moshe Ya’alon, on Tuesday said that the terrorists who burned the home of the Dawabsha family, killing a baby and his parents, were identified, except that the court evidence against them is “not enough.”
Ya’alon, speaking to army radio, admitted that the attack was “clearly a Jewish terror attack” which “he is ashamed of,” adding that “Israel does not have enough evidence against the defendants to keep them detained or prosecute them.”
The revelation follows a similar admission from Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) two weeks ago that there is no evidence to try the suspects, PNN reports.
On Thursday, one of the suspects in the fatal arson attack on the Dawabsha family in July was released to house arrest.
On July 31, the village of Douma was awaken to an arson executed by extremist Israeli settlers who attacked and burned the family house while they were all asleep.
The terrorist attack lead to the immediate death of Ali Dawabsha (18-months), while the father, Sa’ad, succumbed to wounds a week after, and the mother, Riham died one month later. Only Ahmad Dawabsha (4) survived the attack, and is still recovering in the ICU for over four months, now.
Ya’alon, speaking to army radio, admitted that the attack was “clearly a Jewish terror attack” which “he is ashamed of,” adding that “Israel does not have enough evidence against the defendants to keep them detained or prosecute them.”
The revelation follows a similar admission from Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) two weeks ago that there is no evidence to try the suspects, PNN reports.
On Thursday, one of the suspects in the fatal arson attack on the Dawabsha family in July was released to house arrest.
On July 31, the village of Douma was awaken to an arson executed by extremist Israeli settlers who attacked and burned the family house while they were all asleep.
The terrorist attack lead to the immediate death of Ali Dawabsha (18-months), while the father, Sa’ad, succumbed to wounds a week after, and the mother, Riham died one month later. Only Ahmad Dawabsha (4) survived the attack, and is still recovering in the ICU for over four months, now.
12 dec 2015
Hardline Knesset member Bezalel Smotrich has described the Jewish settlers' deadly arson attack on the Palestinian Dawabsheh family in the West Bank village of Duma as "not an act of terror."
In a column published on Thursday by the B'Sheva newspaper, Smotrich, from the Jewish Home party, called for not drawing an analogy between the murder of Jews and Palestinians.
"The murder in Duma, with all its severity, is not an incident of terrorism. Period. Those who call it terror are perverting the truth, unjustifiably inflicting great harm to human and civil rights, making themselves like UN officials, whose job is to maintain order on both sides, and cheapening the concept of terror, and as a result, at the end of the day undermining the effectiveness of the efforts to combat it," he wrote.
The Knesset member also lashed out at the Shin Bet for conducting investigations into the Duma arson attack and interrogating Jewish suspects, accusing it of crossing all the red lines.
In a column published on Thursday by the B'Sheva newspaper, Smotrich, from the Jewish Home party, called for not drawing an analogy between the murder of Jews and Palestinians.
"The murder in Duma, with all its severity, is not an incident of terrorism. Period. Those who call it terror are perverting the truth, unjustifiably inflicting great harm to human and civil rights, making themselves like UN officials, whose job is to maintain order on both sides, and cheapening the concept of terror, and as a result, at the end of the day undermining the effectiveness of the efforts to combat it," he wrote.
The Knesset member also lashed out at the Shin Bet for conducting investigations into the Duma arson attack and interrogating Jewish suspects, accusing it of crossing all the red lines.
11 dec 2015
An Israeli court on Friday released one of the Jewish settlers suspected of carrying out a deadly arson attack in last July on al-Dawabsheh family in Duma village, south of Nablus city.
According to Israel's channel 7, the released settler, who lives in a settlement north of Ramallah city, had been interrogated for two weeks by the police and now he will stay for a while under house arrest.
One week ago, the Shin Bet claimed it had managed to unravel the mastery of the crime that happened to al-Dawabsheh family, without giving further details.
A gang of Jewish settlers in late July 2015 attacked the house of a Palestinian family with Molotov cocktails, killing 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, while both his parents died later one after another from their injuries. His 4-year-old brother was also critically injured in the attack.
According to Israel's channel 7, the released settler, who lives in a settlement north of Ramallah city, had been interrogated for two weeks by the police and now he will stay for a while under house arrest.
One week ago, the Shin Bet claimed it had managed to unravel the mastery of the crime that happened to al-Dawabsheh family, without giving further details.
A gang of Jewish settlers in late July 2015 attacked the house of a Palestinian family with Molotov cocktails, killing 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, while both his parents died later one after another from their injuries. His 4-year-old brother was also critically injured in the attack.
6 dec 2015
Ahmad Dawabsha does not sleep as easily as other children.
He breathes heavily and fidgets in discomfort. The four-year-old’s body is positioned however his injuries allow, with his face framed by the beige body suit that protects him from his burns.
Four months after the arson attack by Israeli settlers that killed his parents and 18-month-old brother Ali, Ahmad's family nervously watch over him in his sleep.
"Yesterday his grandfather phoned me and said he’s shouting ‘they burned us, they burned us.’ It was the same thing he said when he first woke up [after the attack]," says Nagham Qasem, 44, who helps care for Ahmad. "Last week, he was saying in his sleep ‘bring me daddy.’ We had to wake him up to stop the dream.”
He does not yet know it, but Ahmad is the only remaining member of his household. His younger brother Ali died in the fire while his father and mother succumbed to their injuries in the weeks after a petrol bomb burned their home in Douma, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
In his sleep and while awake, Ahmad's attention frequently turns to his family, says Qasem, who is not related to the Dawabsha family but began helping them care for Ahmad after she saw pictures of him posted on social media, following the attack.
He talks about his father as a hero who could wrestle lions and he worries about Ali, whom he believes is at home alone and will be scared of the dark while his parents, as he believes, are in the hospital. Anytime Ahmad receives a present, he promises to take it home to share with his baby brother, says Qasem.
“It feels like knives are stabbing my heart [when he asks about his parents] because I don’t know how to answer him. I can’t lie to him but I also can’t tell him the truth,” his grandfather, Hussein Dawabsha, tells Anadolu Agency.
There is no doubt in Hussein's eyes when he says the day Ahmad returns home "will be the hardest day ever."
"He will be imagining his parents and brother waiting but they won’t be there. He will expect a big party and all the family and friends. But [when he finds out] even if we build him a big castle [it wouldn’t be enough.] He would just want to keep to his own small room. Only Allah can help him,” says Hussein.
The fatal attack that orphaned Ahmad and killed his infant brother caused widespread anger that many analysts believe was the source of the current heightened violence that has killed 114 Palestinians and 22 Israelis or foreigners since Oct. 1.
Part of the anger stemmed from a lack of arrests months after the attack, despite Israeli President Reuven Rivlin having already indicated that the authorities knew who was responsible. On Friday, Israel announced, without revealing details, that it had arrested suspects for the murder, which the government described as terrorism.
“I feel the same now as I have since the attack. I’ve been sad and depressed. For me, these arrests don’t change anything, I don’t believe in their justice,” says Hussein.
Nasser Dawabsha, the oldest brother of Ahmad's father Saad, says Israel wanted to appear to be acting on the case after the U.N. envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov criticized the lack of progress in the investigation.
"We don’t trust the Israeli legal system because afterward they will say that they are crazy people and even if they are sentenced they will soon be released," says Nasser.
This week, a man accused of leading the kidnapping and burning to death of Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir, last year, had his conviction delayed after making a last minute insanity plea. "The Israeli law system is racist when it comes to the Palestinians, this system says that even if we were subject to Israeli terror then we can’t ask for compensation or rights because the attackers are Israelis," Nasser says.
For the grandparents, aunts and uncles gathered by Ahmad's bedside, the focus is on his health. They say his condition is improving: he is able to use his left hand, but not his right, and though he can't walk, he is now able to sit up. After months in the hospital, the family say he enjoys using a toy bicycle, that occupies a corner of his room, to roam around the hospital.
Later on Friday, Ahmad's uncle Nasser sent Anadolu Agency pictures taken on his mobile; an awake Ahmad, laughing and raising his fingers in a peace sign.
He breathes heavily and fidgets in discomfort. The four-year-old’s body is positioned however his injuries allow, with his face framed by the beige body suit that protects him from his burns.
Four months after the arson attack by Israeli settlers that killed his parents and 18-month-old brother Ali, Ahmad's family nervously watch over him in his sleep.
"Yesterday his grandfather phoned me and said he’s shouting ‘they burned us, they burned us.’ It was the same thing he said when he first woke up [after the attack]," says Nagham Qasem, 44, who helps care for Ahmad. "Last week, he was saying in his sleep ‘bring me daddy.’ We had to wake him up to stop the dream.”
He does not yet know it, but Ahmad is the only remaining member of his household. His younger brother Ali died in the fire while his father and mother succumbed to their injuries in the weeks after a petrol bomb burned their home in Douma, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
In his sleep and while awake, Ahmad's attention frequently turns to his family, says Qasem, who is not related to the Dawabsha family but began helping them care for Ahmad after she saw pictures of him posted on social media, following the attack.
He talks about his father as a hero who could wrestle lions and he worries about Ali, whom he believes is at home alone and will be scared of the dark while his parents, as he believes, are in the hospital. Anytime Ahmad receives a present, he promises to take it home to share with his baby brother, says Qasem.
“It feels like knives are stabbing my heart [when he asks about his parents] because I don’t know how to answer him. I can’t lie to him but I also can’t tell him the truth,” his grandfather, Hussein Dawabsha, tells Anadolu Agency.
There is no doubt in Hussein's eyes when he says the day Ahmad returns home "will be the hardest day ever."
"He will be imagining his parents and brother waiting but they won’t be there. He will expect a big party and all the family and friends. But [when he finds out] even if we build him a big castle [it wouldn’t be enough.] He would just want to keep to his own small room. Only Allah can help him,” says Hussein.
The fatal attack that orphaned Ahmad and killed his infant brother caused widespread anger that many analysts believe was the source of the current heightened violence that has killed 114 Palestinians and 22 Israelis or foreigners since Oct. 1.
Part of the anger stemmed from a lack of arrests months after the attack, despite Israeli President Reuven Rivlin having already indicated that the authorities knew who was responsible. On Friday, Israel announced, without revealing details, that it had arrested suspects for the murder, which the government described as terrorism.
“I feel the same now as I have since the attack. I’ve been sad and depressed. For me, these arrests don’t change anything, I don’t believe in their justice,” says Hussein.
Nasser Dawabsha, the oldest brother of Ahmad's father Saad, says Israel wanted to appear to be acting on the case after the U.N. envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov criticized the lack of progress in the investigation.
"We don’t trust the Israeli legal system because afterward they will say that they are crazy people and even if they are sentenced they will soon be released," says Nasser.
This week, a man accused of leading the kidnapping and burning to death of Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir, last year, had his conviction delayed after making a last minute insanity plea. "The Israeli law system is racist when it comes to the Palestinians, this system says that even if we were subject to Israeli terror then we can’t ask for compensation or rights because the attackers are Israelis," Nasser says.
For the grandparents, aunts and uncles gathered by Ahmad's bedside, the focus is on his health. They say his condition is improving: he is able to use his left hand, but not his right, and though he can't walk, he is now able to sit up. After months in the hospital, the family say he enjoys using a toy bicycle, that occupies a corner of his room, to roam around the hospital.
Later on Friday, Ahmad's uncle Nasser sent Anadolu Agency pictures taken on his mobile; an awake Ahmad, laughing and raising his fingers in a peace sign.
4 dec 2015
Relatives of 18-month-old Palestinian Ali Saad Dawabsha, who died after his house was set on fire by Jewish extremists, mourn next to his body on July 31, 2015.
Several Israeli youths connected to Jewish extremist organizations have been arrested by Israeli forces for suspected involvement in a fatal arson attack on a Palestinian family in July, Shin Bet said on Thursday.
An Israeli police spokeswoman for Arab media, Luba al-Samri, confirmed that police "recently arrested young men suspected of membership in a Jewish terrorist organization, and of carrying out different terrorist attacks."
"Specific suspicions are being examined about involvement in the abominable terrorist attack of torching the home of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian town of Douma," she added.
The information about the arrests was released after a weeks-long gag order was partially lifted on investigations into those responsible for the murder of three members of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian village of Douma outside of Nablus.
All other information regarding the investigation is still under a gag order requested by the Israeli police.
Suspects involved in the attack were identified by Israel’s defense establishment in September but no charges were filed at the time, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
On July 31, suspected Israeli settlers smashed the windows of the Dawabsha family home before throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside.
Locals told Ma’an News Agency, at the time, that the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah" were sprayed in Hebrew on the site of the house.
Ali Saad Dawabsha, one-and-a-half years old, was trapped in the house and burned alive. The infant's mother and father, Riham and Saad, later died from severe burns.
The attack sparked criticism from the international community for Israel's failure to hold Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists accountable for attacks on Palestinians, in effect being complicit in such attacks. Israeli leadership at the time condemned the Dawabsha attack as "terrorism," and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem slammed the reaction by Israeli officials as "empty rhetoric."
"Official condemnations of this attack are empty rhetoric as long as politicians continue their policy of avoiding enforcement of the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians, and do not deal with the public climate and the incitement which serve as backdrop to these acts," the group said, at the time.
Thursday’s partial lift on the gag-order came one day after the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, criticized Israel for the "slow progress" in investigating the arson.
Several Israeli youths connected to Jewish extremist organizations have been arrested by Israeli forces for suspected involvement in a fatal arson attack on a Palestinian family in July, Shin Bet said on Thursday.
An Israeli police spokeswoman for Arab media, Luba al-Samri, confirmed that police "recently arrested young men suspected of membership in a Jewish terrorist organization, and of carrying out different terrorist attacks."
"Specific suspicions are being examined about involvement in the abominable terrorist attack of torching the home of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian town of Douma," she added.
The information about the arrests was released after a weeks-long gag order was partially lifted on investigations into those responsible for the murder of three members of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian village of Douma outside of Nablus.
All other information regarding the investigation is still under a gag order requested by the Israeli police.
Suspects involved in the attack were identified by Israel’s defense establishment in September but no charges were filed at the time, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
On July 31, suspected Israeli settlers smashed the windows of the Dawabsha family home before throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside.
Locals told Ma’an News Agency, at the time, that the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah" were sprayed in Hebrew on the site of the house.
Ali Saad Dawabsha, one-and-a-half years old, was trapped in the house and burned alive. The infant's mother and father, Riham and Saad, later died from severe burns.
The attack sparked criticism from the international community for Israel's failure to hold Israeli settlers and Jewish extremists accountable for attacks on Palestinians, in effect being complicit in such attacks. Israeli leadership at the time condemned the Dawabsha attack as "terrorism," and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem slammed the reaction by Israeli officials as "empty rhetoric."
"Official condemnations of this attack are empty rhetoric as long as politicians continue their policy of avoiding enforcement of the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians, and do not deal with the public climate and the incitement which serve as backdrop to these acts," the group said, at the time.
Thursday’s partial lift on the gag-order came one day after the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, criticized Israel for the "slow progress" in investigating the arson.
