Palestinian officials say Israel is “fully responsible” for the death of an infant in an arson attack blamed on Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
The 18-month-old boy was killed in the night-time attack on two homes in the village of Duma. His parents and brother suffered serious injuries.
Slogans in Hebrew, including the word “revenge”, were found sprayed on a wall of one of the firebombed houses.
Israel’s prime minister called the attack “reprehensible and horrific”.
“This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes a strong line against terrorism regardless of the perpetrators,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a tweet.
However the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), which dominates the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said it held the Israeli government “fully responsible for the brutal assassination” of the child, Ali Saad Dawabsha.
“This is a direct consequence of decades of impunity given by the Israeli government to settler terrorism,” it said.
While it is unclear what the word “revenge” referred to, the incident resembles what have become known as “price tag” attacks.
Such attacks usually involve acts of vandalism or arson by Jewish extremists as retribution for actions taken by the Israeli government against Jewish settlements or unauthorised outposts in the West Bank, or for violence by Palestinians.
What are ‘price tag’ attacks?
The name given to certain types of attack by militant Jewish settlers and their supporters in the West Bank and Israel
Such attacks commonly involve graffiti including the words ‘price tag’, vandalism, arson and destruction of Palestinian olive trees
Carried out as a form of retribution for Israeli government curbs on settlement activity and for attacks by Palestinians