Palestinian baby killed in suspected Jewish extremist attack
According to the military, the suspects entered the village of Duma,
near the city of Nablus, where they set the homes ablaze and scrawled
graffiti, including "Long live the Messiah," ''revenge" and "price tag."
The attackers threw Molotov cocktails, or fire bombs, at the houses, the military said.
The slain child was identified as one-and-a-half year old Ali
Dawabsheh. His four-year-old brother and parents were among the wounded,
according to Gassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official from the Nablus
area.
Daghlas said Jewish settlers broke the window of a house
and flung a burning object inside, "causing a quick and huge fire." He
added that three people were wounded aside from the child. The Israeli
military said three people were critically wounded and one was slightly
injured. The critically wounded were taken to Israeli hospitals for
treatment, the military said.
"Setters in the Nablus area are
very aggressive. They never stop attacking Palestinians in their
villages and the Israeli government needs to put an end to these
aggressions," Daghlas said.
The Israeli military said it sent troop reinforcements to the West Bank, fearing the incident could trigger unrest.
Jewish extremists have for years attacked Palestinian property, as well
as mosques, churches and even Israeli military bases in opposition to
what they see as the Israeli government's favorable policies toward the
Palestinians, although it is rare for anyone to be killed in such
attacks.
Critics say police have been slow to apprehend the
assailants and Palestinians say the military has failed to protect them
from attacks by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
The
attacks, known as "price tag," have been condemned across the Israeli
political spectrum and condemnations came swiftly Friday, with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issuing a stern statement against the
violence.
"I am shocked over this reprehensible and horrific act.
This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes
a strong line against terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators
are," he said.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner called the incident "nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism."
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said Israel would not allow "Jewish terrorists" to carry out such acts.
"We will not allow Jewish terrorists to harm the lives of Palestinians
in Judea and Samaria," he said in a statement, referring to the West
Bank by its biblical name. "We will fight against them firmly and with
all means and tools at our disposal."
Meanwhile, Israeli police
said they would restrict entrance to Friday prayers at a Jerusalem
mosque to male worshippers over the age of 50. Police said the decision
was not necessarily related to the West Bank incident and comes as
police received word that Palestinian youth at the mosque planned to
cause disturbances.
(AP)
