‘Jewish terror group’ members arrested over arson attack

Members of a “Jewish terror group” have been arrested over a July arson attack on a Palestinian home in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that killed a child and his parents, Israeli police said yesterday.

A police statement did not say how many suspects were in custody. It said a court order banning disclosure of their names and other details of the case was in effect.

Eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was killed in the July 31st blaze in Duma, a village outside Nablus. His father, Saad Dawabsheh, succumbed to injuries suffered in the fire on August 9th, and the boy's mother, Riham, died in hospital four weeks later. Ali's four-year-old brother remains in hospital.

Solid suspicions

The police statement said “youths belonging to a Jewish terror group” suspected of carrying out attacks on Palestinians were arrested over the past few days, and there were “solid suspicions” linking them to the arson at the Dawabshehs’ home.

Palestinian anger over the Duma attack has been a factor fuelling a wave of street assaults on Israelis that erupted on October 1st.

Lawyers for the suspects told a news conference they had been denied access to their clients. One attorney, Hai Haber, alleged the suspects had been denied food and medical attention and had undergone long hours of intense questioning.

“An aggressive, violent investigation is being held in order to extract confessions. The suspects are being hidden away, they have not been brought before the courts and their lawyers and families have not been allowed to see them,” Haber said.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld denied there had been any abuses, saying the suspects were being held in accordance with the law.

The Tel Aviv hospital treating Ahmed Dawabsheh denied Palestinian health ministry allegation that there had been a demand for the Palestinians to pay the hospital bill.

– (Reuters)