Palestinian mother injured in arson attack dies

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Tuesday 08 Sep 2015 - 20:17 Makkah mean time-24-11-1436 Ramallah (IINA) - The mother of an 18-month-old Palestinian baby burned to death in an arson attack in the occupied West Bank, has herself died from injuries. Reham Dawabsheh, 26, who died on Sunday night in an Israeli hospital, had suffered third-degree burns to at least 80 percent of her body in the July 31 firebombing. Israeli settlers are accused of throwing flammable liquids and Molotov cocktails inside two homes in the village of Duma in that incident. Saad, Dawabsheh's husband, died from his injuries eight days after the attack while four-year-old Ali, another son of the couple, is still in hospital. Several suspects have been arrested after the Dawabsheh family's home was targeted, killing Ali Dawabsheh, Reham's toddler son, and prompting anger among the Palestinian community. "Reham Dawabsheh died in the night," a spokesperson for the Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv said, where she was admitted with burns covering 80 percent of her body. Anwar Dawabsheh, a family member, confirmed he had been informed of Reham's death and said the funeral would be held on Monday in Duma. The Israelis are expected to return Reham's body to the Palestinian authorities to a checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank, from where it will be taken to Duma. The family's small brick-and-cement home was destroyed by the fire and a Jewish Star of David spray-painted on a wall along with the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah". The bombing came only hours after a stabbing attack at a Jerusalem Gay Pride march that killed a 16-year-old girl and wounded five other people. While the attacks were not related, both have led to criticism of Israel's government and security forces, who have been accused of failing to tackle Jewish violence. Last month, thousands of mourners, many waving Palestinian flags, turned out to lay Saad Dawabsheh to rest in an emotional ceremony that later erupted into clashes with Israeli border police. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, has pledged to tackle the issue and labeled the firebombing "terrorism" - a word usually reserved by Israelis for violence by Palestinians. The Palestinian foreign ministry in the West Bank city of Ramallah said it had submitted a request to the Hague-based International Criminal Court to probe the firebombing and "settler terrorism". There has been a series of nationalist hate crimes, known as "price-tag" attacks, by suspected Jewish settlers. Such groups have warned in the past there would be a price to pay for any action by Israeli authorities they regard as hostile to the Jewish settlement movement or to far-right religious beliefs. HA/IINA