RAMALLAH, March 20, 2016 (WAFA) – Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat, condemned on Sunday the arson attack on the house of Ibrahim Dawabsheh, the sole witness of the Duma crime.  

In his statement, Erekat held the Israeli government fully responsible for the attack in Duma, saying such an attack has become “common practice by the Israeli government, as was the case in the 2014 gruesome murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, whose murderers were held under house arrest or in a mental facility, with little or no security supervision.”

“Israel has yet to convict those responsible for the murders of Saad, Reham, and Ali Dawabsheh, instead of choosing to send violent murderers back to the illegal settlements where they live,” he said in reference to the July 2015 Duma arson attack, which resulted in the death of three members from the Dawabsheh family and left a 4-year-old an orphan.

Erekat reiterated that Israel's disregard for these atrocious crimes “reflects both the Israeli culture of impunity and the international community's free license granted to Israel to systematically disregard international law.” 

He added, “The Israeli prolonged belligerent occupation, colonization, and transfer of 650,000 Israeli citizens into the occupied State of Palestine is part of a comprehensive system of continued oppression and subjugation perpetuated by the international community.”

The top ranking PLO official called on the international community to pressure Israel to uphold its obligations as the occupying power to provide security and protection for the Palestinian civilian population it occupies.

“We reiterate our calls for international protection and an immediate international intervention in order to end the Israeli occupation and achieve the long overdue inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Source: WAFA