2 Israeli Jews indicted for deadly West Bank arson


Israeli public prosecutors filed Sunday indictments against two Jewish settlers for the murder last summer of a Palestinian family - including an 18-month-old child - in an arson attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The Central District Attorney's Office filed the indictments against the two settlers in the city of Lod in central Israel, Israeli Radio reported.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. According to the indictments, the two met several times in a Jewish-only settlement near Duma to plan the attack.Ben-Oliel, the indictment asserts, prepared two Molotov cocktails that were later used to attack two of the Dawabsheh family's homes, along with a lighter, matches, gloves and spray-paint.On July 30, one day before the attack, Ben-Oliel cased the village to look for potential targets, according to the indictments.The following day, the indictment goes on to state, Ben-Oliel hurled the first Molotov cocktail into the empty home of Mamoun Dawabsheh, on which he spray-painted the word "revenge".He then hurled the second Molotov cocktail into the home of Saeed and Riham Dawabsheh - in which four members of the family were sleeping - before fleeing the scene, the indictment adds. According to a senior official from Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency who was quoted by Israeli radio, the suspects belong to a "terrorist organization" that does not recognize the state of Israel and which calls for the establishment of a Jewish "kingdom" based on the provisions of Jewish scripture.Two additional indictments, meanwhile, were filed against two other Jewish settlers for involvement in the arson attack, which killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents and left four-year-old Ahmad Dawabsheh with serious injuries.Some observers say the attack - which drew international condemnation at the time - was a key factor in a recent outbreak of violence that has left at least 144 Palestinians and 25 Israelis dead since Oct. 1.