It was a horrific crime by any standard. A Palestinian toddler was burned to death and four family members wounded in an arson attack by Jewish settlers on two homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation has rightly held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “fully responsible’’ for the death of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabshe in the arson attack, pointing out that it has been “a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism’’.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, calling it “a war crime and a crime against humanity”.
A statement from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini’s office called the attack a “cold blooded killing” and warned about the incident potentially causing an uptick in violence.
“A full and prompt investigation to bring the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice is required,” the statement said, adding the EU remained opposed to Israel’s settlement policy which was threatening the possibility of a two-state solution.
Amnesty International said earlier this week that an analysis of an Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip during last year’s war in the Palestinian territory showed “strong evidence” of war crimes.
The rights group called for those responsible for the alleged offences to be prosecuted as it published a detailed analysis of the Israeli military operation using eyewitness accounts, satellite imagery, photos and videos.
“There is strong evidence that Israeli forces committed war crimes in their relentless and massive bombardment of residential areas of Rafah in order to foil the capture of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, displaying a shocking disregard for civilian lives,” Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International, said in a statement. “They carried out a series of disproportionate or otherwise indiscriminate attacks, which they have completely failed to investigate independently.”
The incidents addressed in the report centred on August 1, 2014, which has become known as “Black Friday”.
Israel bombed the city of Rafah and the surrounding area in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt. According to Amnesty, at least 135 civilians were killed in the air and ground assault.
Massive and prolonged bombardment began without warning while masses of people were on the streets, and many of them, especially those in vehicles, became targets, according to Amnesty.
It is high time for the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli crimes against Palestinians.
