Reham Dawabsheh, the mother of the 18-month-old Palestinian child who burned to death in an arson attack in the occupied West Bank, has herself died from the injuries she sustained during the attack.
Her husband also died from the severe burns he sustained early in August.
Their home in Duma, a village near Nablus, had its windows smashed and fire bombs thrown inside as the family were asleep at the end of July.
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Al Jazeera reports: 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.
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said he was “saddened” by Dawabsheh’s death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and especially with little Ahmed, now orphaned due to this heinous act.
“I reiterate and strengthen my earlier call for justice… I am nevertheless concerned by the lack of progress in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of this outrage.
“The tragedy of the Dawabsheh family serves as a shocking example of the destructive nature of
extremism,” Mladenov said.
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.
Stabbing attack
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.
Niamh Harris
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