NABLUS,
August 8, 2015 (WAFA) – Critically injured Sa’ed Dawabsheh, the father of toddler
Ali who was burnt to death during an Israeli settlers’ arson attack on two
homes in Nablus’ Duma village last week, has succumbed to his critical wounds
early Saturday.
Security
sources informed WAFA that Sa’ed, 33, who sustained three degree burns
following the arson attack, died of his critical wounds, while receiving
medical treatment in an Israeli hospital.
On
July 31, suspected Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian homes with Molotov cocktails; they reportedly threw the bombs inside the bedroom window at dawn,
giving the family no chance to escape. The attack claimed the life of 18-month
Ali Dawabsheh, and left his Father, Sa’ed, mother, Riham, and 4-year-old
brother, Ahmad, critically burnt and injured.
Ali’s
Parents and little brother have been fighting for their lives across Israeli
hospitals since the arson attack; the parent’s health condition remained
extremely critical, necessitating ICU care, whereas Ahmad’s condition has
stabilized.
Sa’ed’s
uncle, Yousif Dawabsheh, said that Sa’ed, who suffered 80% burns on his body, succumbed to his wounds after giving
his final words. Sae’d’s final statement was a question about his son Ali,
asking whether they have lost him or not.
In
a statement issued following the death of the father, Sa’ed, the new general
coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East Nikolai Mladenov,
reiterated his call to bring the perpetrators of the Duma Crime to justice.
The
UN coordinator expressed deep sorrow over his death and reiterated his call to
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, to expeditiously bring the criminals to
justice. He further called on political, religious, and social leaders to work
together to prevent extremists from escalating the situation and ensure control of the political agenda.
Mladenov
wished Ali’s mother, Riham, and little brother, Ahmad, a speedy recovery and offered
his condolences to Sa’ed’s family and to all Palestinian people.
The
arson attack was widely condemned and slammed as a terrorist act, including by
US and Israel, whereas the Palestinian Authority held the Israeli government
fully responsible.
Though
Israeli Prime Minister pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, President
Mahmoud Abbas questioned the Israeli government’s commitment to end violence,
saying the Israeli government would have been able to stop settlers’ violence
if it really wanted to do that.
He
said, “What happened in Duma is added to a record of crimes committed by the
settlers and the Israeli government, because it sponsors settlement activities
and encourages settlers’ actions.”
Meanwhile,
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas’ spokesman, held the Israeli government fully
responsible for his heinous crime and said it would not have happened if the
Israeli government had stopped settlement construction and protecting settlers.
In the aftermath of the arson attack, Foreign
Affairs Minister, Riyad Al-Malki, following formal instructions of President
Mahmoud Abbas, handed over the file prepared on settlers’ violence against the
Palestinian people, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,
Fatou Bensouda, in Hague on August 3rd.
Al-Malki
called on the ICC to speed up investigations into the situation in the occupied
Palestinian Territory, particularly in light of the continued ‘inhumane war
crimes’ committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people.
On
2 July, Palestinian teenager, Mohammad Abu Khudair, 17 years old, was abducted,
tortured, and burnt to death by Israeli settlers.
T.R.
