State of Palestine: Hundreds rally after toddler killed in arson attack by suspected Israeli settlers

Hundreds of protesters gathered, north of Gaza City on Friday, to denounce the killing of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, who died in an arson attack on his home in the West Bank village of Duma on Thursday. The attack is being blamed on Israeli settlers after slogans written in Hebrew, including the word ‘revenge’, were found on the burnt-out building. The Palestinian Authority stated that up to four assailants threw petrol bombs at a cluster of homes, one of which was empty. Dawabsha’s brothers and parents were also severely injured in the attack. The attack has been condemned by both the President of the State of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), which controls much of the West Bank, are blaming the Israeli government and their settlement programme for the attack. The attack comes as the Israeli authorities demolished two settlers’ apartment blocks on Wednesday, in the settlement of Beit El, after a court ruled they had been built illegally on Palestinian-owned land. In response Netanyahu authorised the construction of 300 more homes in the settlement, a move which has drawn condemnation from the Palestinian authorities.