Two Jewish settlers indicted for deadly West Bank arson attack

Israeli public prosecutors filed Sunday indictments against two Jewish settlers for the murder last summer of a Palestinian family – including an 18-month-old child – in an arson attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Central District Attorney’s Office filed the indictments against the two settlers in the city of Lod in central Israel, Israeli Radio reported.

The main suspect, Amiram Ben-Oliel, 21, was charged with killing three members of the Dawabsheh family in the West Bank village of Duma, while a 17-year old Jewish settler was charged with accessory to murder.

According to the indictments, the two met several times in a Jewish-only settlement near Duma to plan the attack.

Ben-Oliel, the indictment asserts, prepared two Molotov cocktails that were later used to attack two of the Dawabsheh family’s homes, along with a lighter, matches, gloves and spray-paint.

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On July 30, one day before the attack, Ben-Oliel cased the village to look for potential targets, according to the indictments.

The following day, the indictment goes on to state, Ben-Oliel hurled the first Molotov cocktail into the empty home of Mamoun Dawabsheh, on which he spray-painted the word “revenge”.

He then hurled the second Molotov cocktail into the home of Saeed and Riham Dawabsheh – in which four members of the family were sleeping – before fleeing the scene, the indictment adds.

According to a senior official from Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency who was quoted by Israeli radio, the suspects belong to a “terrorist organisation” that does not recognise the state of Israel and which calls for the establishment of a Jewish “kingdom” based on the provisions of Jewish scripture.

Two additional indictments, meanwhile, were filed against two other Jewish settlers for involvement in the arson attack, which killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents and left four-year-old Ahmad Dawabsheh with serious injuries.

Some observers say the attack – which drew international condemnation at the time – was a key factor in a recent outbreak of violence that has left at least 144 Palestinians and 25 Israelis dead since October 1.