Hacktivist collective Anonymous has attacked scores of Israeli official websites over the release of the suspects in an arson attack on a Palestinian home that killed a baby and his father.
Some 54 Israeli websites, including those of the prime minister’s office, the Israeli military, and foreign and finance ministries, were offline or experiencing technical problems for up to 12 hours after the attack, the Middle East Eye online news portal reported on Tuesday.
Following the attack, Anonymous announced in a statement that their attack was in response to a decision by the “criminal state” to release the arson suspects.
On Monday, Tel Aviv released all those who had been held in connection to the Israeli settler firebomb attack on a Palestinian house in the village of Duma in the West Bank on July 31.
An 18-month old baby, Ali Dawabsheh, was burnt to death in the attack and his father, Sa’ad Dawabsheh, succumbed to his injuries last week.
Settlers, mostly armed, almost regularly attack Palestinian villages and farms and set fire to their mosques, olive groves, and other properties in the West Bank.
Israeli settlements are considered illegal by much of the international community because the territories were captured by the regime in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.