Duma, West Bank - Jordan on Friday condemned as an “ugly crime” an arson attack by suspected Jewish settlers that killed a Palestinian toddler in the occupied West Bank and wounded four family members.
“This ugly crime could have been avoided if the Israeli government had not ignored the rights of the Palestinian people and turned its back on peace... in the region,” government spokesman Mohammed Momani said.
Momani, who is also minister of state for media affairs, said Jordan holds Israel “responsible” for the death of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha and for all attacks on the Palestinian people.
Palestinian sources said that the wounded included the toddler's parents and another child.
Friday's arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma, has been condemned by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who called it “an act of terrorism in every respect”.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation said Dawabsha's death was “a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism”.
The attack comes two days after Netanyahu controversially approved 300 new settler homes in the West Bank, in a move condemned by the United Nations and the European Union.
West Bank settlements are major impediments to peace negotiations with the Palestinians, who see the land as part of a future independent state, and Western nations have called on Israel to halt construction.
AFP