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News > World

Mother Dies After Israeli Terrorist Attack on West Bank Home

  • Palestinians inside the Dawabsheh home in Duma following an arson attack in July 31, 2014.

    Palestinians inside the Dawabsheh home in Duma following an arson attack in July 31, 2014. | Photo: AFP

Published 7 September 2015
Opinion

The July 31 firebombing on a Palestinian home has now killed three of the four family members trapped inside, including an 18-month-old infant.

Reham Dawabsheh, the Palestinian mother of an 18-month-old baby who burned to death in an arson attack last month, passed away Sunday night from injuries sustained during the same attack.

Dawabsheh, 26, died in an Israeli hospital from third-degree burns that covered over 80 percent of her body.

The young mother had been receiving treatment since the July 31 firebombing on the Dewabsheh's family home – which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as “a terror attack.”

Police officials said the house in Duma, a small village near the city of Nablus, was torched while the family was sleeping and graffiti in Hebrew reading “revenge” was scribbled on the wall outside.

Baby Ali died in the blaze, as rescuers could not reach his room that was engulfed in flames, while his father, Sa’ad, passed away from second-degree burns eight days after the attack.

RELATED: Photo Essay: Palestinian Baby Burnt Alive by Israeli Terrorists

The family's only successor is four-year-old Ahmad, who was also in the house during the attack and remains in hospital in critical condition.

Media reports vary about the current state of the case, with some claiming that several suspects have been arrested for the crime but none have yet been prosecuted. The BBC reported that no suspects have yet been arrested.

The enraged Palestinian community has blamed Jewish settlers for the attack, yet Israeli officials have not yet confirmed this accusation, saying an investigation is ongoing.

The U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said he was “saddened” by Dawabsheh's death and reiterated his earlier call for justice of the heinous act.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and especially with little Ahmed, now orphaned due to this heinous act,” said Mladenov. “The tragedy of the Dawabsheh family serves as a shocking example of the destructive nature of extremism,” he added.

Israelis are expected to return Reham's body to the Palestinian Authorities in the West Bank, where it will be taken to Duma. The funeral is scheduled for Monday.

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