Former MK: Israel’s hands covered in the Dawabsheh family’s blood

Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Israel is responsible for the killing of the Dawabsheh family in the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus in July 2015, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Speaking to Israeli Radio, Ya’alon said: “When the Israeli soldiers wanted to evacuate settlers’ homes, the settlers threw stones at them and the Education Minister Naftali Bennet stood up and attacked the Supreme Court.”

“Therefore, we do not have to feel surprised when the settlers uproot the Arabs’ olive trees, burn mosques or churches or burn a family in Duma village – the family whose blood our hands are tainted with.”

On 31 July 2015, a group of Israeli settlers burnt the house of the Dawabsheh family in Duma killing baby Ali and his parents Sa’ad and Riham. Only then four-year-old Ahmed survived the blaze.

Read: Dawabsheh family calls on Israel to take responsibility for deadly arson attack

Israel has refused to pay compensation to the family of Ahmad Dawabsheh.

Ya’alon resigned from the post of defence minister after differences with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his support for the right of army officers to freely express their opinion.

Since his resignation, he has been an outspoken critic for the policies of Netanyahu’s government. It is expected that he will compete for the post of prime minister in any future election.