Ya'alon: We will not allow Jewish terrorists to harm Palestinians

Netanyahu: On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I would like to commiserate with the family of Ali Dawabsha; MK Herzog: incident requires national mourning.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Updated: JULY 31, 2015 12:35
Hebrew grafitti at the Dawabsha family home in Duma where a fire engulfed the house after a molotov cocktail was thrown at it (photo credit: ZAKARIA, RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS)
Hebrew grafitti at the Dawabsha family home in Duma where a fire engulfed the house after a molotov cocktail was thrown at it
(photo credit: ZAKARIA, RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS)
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, expressed their shock and outright condemnation of the terror attack early Friday morning in which a Palestinian toddler was killed and three members of his family injured in a molotov cocktail attack on their home by suspected far-right extremists, in the village of Duma, in the northern area of the West Bank, outside the city of Nablus.
Despite the political differences between the left and the right, the coalition and the opposition, the response remains the same: shock, horror and calls for justice.
Netanyahu forcefully condemned the attack in Duma Friday morning, saying he was shocked by the “horrible” act, and calling it a “terror attack in every way.”
Terror attack in Duma
“Israel acts with a strong hand against terror, and it does not matter who are its perpetrators,” he said in a statement.
The prime minister said he directed the security services to use all means at their disposal to apprehend those responsible and bring them to justice.
“The government of Israel is united in its opposition to terrible and heinous acts such as these,” he said, adding that – speaking for the entire country – he wanted to send his condolences to the family of the baby killed in the attack and wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon referred to the incident and the death of baby Ali Dawabsha as "a most severe terrorist act that we cannot tolerate, and we condemn in every way."
He noted that all security forces including the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), the IDF and police are carrying out a "supreme effort" to find those responsible, saying "we will pursue them until we get our hands on them."
"We will not allow Jewish terrorists to harm the lives of Palestinians across Judea and Samaria. We will fight them in every way, with every tool at our disposal."
He sent out his condolences to the Dawabsha family and requested restraint from the public "to allowing security forces to carry out their mission of capturing the murderers."
Opposition leader MK Herzog echoed a similar sentiment, calling the attack "a disaster--the worst kind of terrorism."
On his Facebook page, he added that this incident "requires national mourning." He also advised security officials to "increase vigilance and to investigate the incident with all the power available to them, including arrests and investigations to bring those responsible to justice as quickly as possible."
Bayit Yehudi leader, MK Naftali Bennett's response referred to the incident as "shocking" and flat out murder, "not a hate crime, and not a price tag attack."
He, too, called on security services to "act with determination to reach the murderers to be punished to the full extent of the law."
IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Moti Almoz condemned the incident as an "act of terrorism in every way," saying he does "not remember an incident this severe in recent years."
The IDF has deployed four battalions to the West Bank in an attempt to maintain stability in the region and respond to potential wide-spread disturbances. Two infantry brigades, Nahal and Givati, have stopped training activities and returned to their bases, where they are on standby, Almoz added.
These steps reflect the IDF's concerns over the potential of the attack to undermine security stability, he said.
"We have to prepare for incidents, and for what may occur on the Temple Mount. Tensions in the past two weeks in Judea and Samaria all drain into this most severe incident. We are coordinating with PA security forces to calm the area," Almoz said.


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West Bank Violence