Two Israelis charged over homicide of Palestinian household

The long-awaited indictment follows months of investigations that had failed to produce concrete results.

The main suspect, Amiram Ben-Oliel, 21, was charged with killing three members of the Dawabsheh family in the West Bank village of Duma, while a 17-year old Jewish settler was charged with accessory to murder.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the victim was a 34-year-old man with light wounds to his face and arms. All four were charged with belonging to a terrorist organization.

The attack on July 31 killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents Saad and Riham.

The firebombing, carried out at night while the family slept, sparked soul-searching among Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the crime was “reprehensible and horrific”.

But critics have noted that lesser non-deadly attacks, such as firebombings that damaged mosques and churches, had gone unpunished for years.

Earlier on Monday, Israel destroyed the homes of two Palestinians who had carried out attacks in October.

Twenty-one Israelis and a USA citizen have died in the latest bloodshed – a number that could rise if police deem a Tel Aviv shooting rampage that killed two people on Friday (January 3) as a pro-Palestinian attack.

At least 145 Palestinians, including children and women, have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of the wave of violence.

The case has revived criticism from rights groups which say there is a culture of impunity in Israel that allows attacks on Palestinians. The Palestinians say it is rooted in frustration stemming from almost five decades of Israeli occupation.

A soldier was lightly injured Tuesday morning in a stabbing attack in the West Bank Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, the Israeli army said. She was moderately wounded and troops were searching for the shooter.

Since October 1, lone Palestinian assailants killed 23 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians.

His condition was not serious and the dead Palestinian was not identified. The so-called “price tag” attacks seek to exact a cost for Israeli steps seen as favoring the Palestinians. They live a vagabond lifestyle, many concentrated in Jerusalem and the West Bank where youth groups have long used vigilante means to back illegal settlements.

“I believe it’s a sad day because we know what the suspects went through in the investigation, all the torture, all the violence”, lawyer Hay Haber told reporters.