ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/NETANYAHU Israeli PM Netanyahu condemns recent violence, vows to hunt down attackers

Record ID: 145349

  • Title: ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/NETANYAHU Israeli PM Netanyahu condemns recent violence, vows to hunt down attackers
  • Date: 2nd August 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (AUGUST 2, 2015) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ENTERING WEEKLY CABINET MEETING MINISTERS ATTENDING MEETING NETANYAHU MINISTERS ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER MOSHE YAALON MINISTERS AT MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "In the past days, we have witnessed two despicable crimes. Our policy towards these
  • Embargoed: 17th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9L0BE6WYNR7640AXX52QMMIEE
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday (August 2) to hunt down the suspected Jewish attackers who torched a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank on Friday (July 31), killing an 18-month-old child and seriously injuring his parents and brother.
    "In the past days, we have witnessed two despicable crimes. Our policy towards these crimes is zero tolerance. I have instructed the security services and law enforcement authorities to act with all the legal means at their disposal to catch the murderers and to bring the stabber and the arsonists to justice," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
    "We are determined to fight vehemently against the phenomena of hatred, extremism and terror from any quarter. The fight against these phenomena unites us all. It is not a fight of one particular camp or another, it is a matter of basic humanity, of basic Jewish values that are a guiding light for us," he added.
    The house in Duma, a village near the city of Nablus, had its windows smashed and fire bombs thrown inside before dawn as the family slept, the military and witnesses said. Graffiti in Hebrew reading "revenge" was scrawled outside, below a Star of David.
    The child's parents and four-year-old brother were flown by helicopter to Israeli hospitals and were in critical condition. A second house, which was empty, was also set ablaze.
    It was the worst attack by Israeli assailants since a Palestinian teenager was burned to death in Jerusalem a year ago. That followed the killing of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
    The Israeli military boosted forces in the area to search for the suspects, described by a spokesman as "two masked terrorists", and prevent any escalation. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas called for revenge.
    "We condemn and will root out these murderers," said Netanyahu.
    After visiting the toddler's brother at hospital, Netanyahu told reporters he had phoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and said Israel was committed to finding the assailants.
    Part of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition is the pro-settlement Jewish Home party. Its leader Naftali Bennett was quick to denounce the attack, but Palestinians accused the party of laying the ground for it.
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