Rare ruling convicts seven Israelis over mocking arson attack on Palestinian toddler

An Israeli court in a rare ruling has convicted seven settlers for their involvement in a 2015 wedding in which participants mocked an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents. 

The court in the occupied al-Quds found the men guilty on charges that included incitement to violence or terror. Some of them were found guilty of incitement to racism and illegal possession of a weapon, while others were found guilty of a weapons charge. 

The wedding came months after 18-month-old Ali Dawabshe and his parents died in an arson attack by extremist settlers on their home in the occupied West Bank. Ali's five-year-old brother was the sole survivor.

A video from a wedding appeared to show guests brandishing rifles and dancing to music with lyrics calling for revenge, while some stabbed photos of Ali Dawabsheh.

In the video, one dancing celebrant stabbed a picture of the Palestinian baby while others waved assault rifles, knives and a petrol bomb.

Israeli settlers leave Palestinian kids bloodied, bruised in West Bank attack

Two Palestinian boys and their mother sustain injuries after a group of masked Israeli settlers attacked their family’s car in the occupied West Bank.

The weapons were issued by the Israeli army and passed around, including to minors.

Songs at the wedding featured offensive lyrics such as “the mosque will burn” and “the mosque will explode”.

The events at the wedding caused an uproar among Palestinians and other nations around the globe alike.

Israel uses settler violence as ‘strategy’ to expel Palestinians from West Bank: NGO

An Israeli right group says Tel Aviv uses settler violence as a strategy to drive Palestinians from their own land in the occupied West Bank.

The charges carry a maximum five-year prison sentence, but the exact sentencing will be determined in a hearing in October.

Incidents of sabotage and settler violence by extremist Israelis against Palestinians and their property have become a daily occurrence throughout the occupied territories, particularly in the West Bank.

However, Israeli authorities rarely prosecute Israeli settlers for assaults on Palestinians and their property and the vast majority of the files are closed due to deliberate police failure to investigate properly.

Extremist Israeli settlers throw stones at Palestinians’ cars in West Bank in latest act of vandalism

A group of extremist Israeli settlers hurl stones at Palestinian vehicles in the West Bank.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arson attacks, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

The acts of violence and vandalism, known as price tag attacks, committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property have risen in recent years.

Tel Aviv has invariably avoided all attempts at bringing them to account in line with its decades-long aggression against Palestinians and other regional nations thanks to staunch support by the United States, its oldest and strongest ally.

Palestine urges ICC to expedite probe into Israeli war crimes in occupied territories

Palestine calls on the ICC to expedite an investigation into the crimes of the Tel Aviv regime and extremist Jewish settlers in the occupied lands, and bring perpetrators to justice.

Israel occupied East al-Quds during the 1967 war and annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move that failed to gain recognition of the international community.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since 1967. All the settlements are illegal under international law. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the settlement activities in several resolutions.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk