The mother of an 18-month-old Palestinian baby who was burned to death in an arson attack on their family home in the occupied West Bank, died from her injuries suffered in the incident on Sunday, officials have confirmed.
Reham Dawabsha, 26, died in an Israeli hospital after suffering third-degree burns to 80% of her body in the attack in July, which Jewish and Palestinian authorities suspect of being carried out by right-wing Jewish extremists. A PLO official confirmed Reham's death to Newsweek.
Her death has left her son Ahmad Dawabsha, 4, as the only remaining survivor of the attack on their home in the West Bank village of Duma. 18-month-old Ali died immediately in the attack while his father, Saad, died from his injuries last month.
Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said that Israel remained responsible for the deaths of all the Dawabsha family members. "If Israel is not stopped and held accountable then Reham will not be the last victim of Israeli terror," he said in a statement released to Newsweek.
"There is a culture of hate that has been developing in Israel by supporting settlements and Apartheid," he added. "The assassination of the Dawabsheh family reflects the clear connection between hate speech, settlement expansion and the impunity granted to Israel by the International community."
The arson attack on the Dawabsha home, approximately 25km (15.5 miles) southeast of the West Bank city of Nablus, saw molotov cocktails thrown into the residence at around 2 a.m. local time on July 31. No suspects have been charged in connection with the incident but a number of people believed to be linked to the attack, have been arrested by Israeli authorities.
In response to the murder of Ali Dawabsha, immediately following the attack, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Nertanyahu condemned the murder as "horrific" and pledged to "use all means" to bring the attackers to justice. "This is an act of terrorism in every respect. The State of Israel takes a strong line against terrorism regardless of who the perpetrators are," he said.
The perpetrators spraypainted the word "revenge" in Hebrew on the house, an indication that it was a 'price tag' attack. These attacks are acts of vandalism carried out against the Palestinian population or the Israeli authorities in retaliation for actions deemed to harm their settlement enterprise.
Following the arson attack, as well as a stabbing attack by an Orthodox Jew at a Jerusalem gay pride march which killed a 16-year-old girl, the Israeli government approved tougher measures to counter "Jewish terrorism."
The Israeli cabinet sanctioned the use of administrative detention for Jewish suspects, a controversial law enforcement method where people can be detained without charges brought against them or a trial. Two Jewish suspects have so far been detained under this ruling since the Duma arson attack.
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