DUMA, West Bank—Suspected Jewish assailants attacked a Palestinian village in the West Bank early Friday and torched two homes, hurling fire bombs inside and setting off a blaze that killed a sleeping toddler and critically wounded his 4-year-old brother and parents.
The violence threatened to set off a dangerous escalation and further stir Palestinian fears that Israel allows attacks by militant Jewish settlers in the West Bank to go unpunished, though Israel says it does its best to track down assailants. Palestinian officials blamed Israel for the attack while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a “terror attack.”
“We will not allow Jewish terrorists to harm the lives of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria,” he said in a statement, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. “We will fight against them firmly and with all means and tools at our disposal.”
Meanwhile, Israeli police said they would restrict entrance to Friday prayers at a Jerusalem mosque, permitting only male worshippers over the age of 50. There were no restrictions on women. Police said the decision was not necessarily related to the West Bank incident and comes as police received word that Palestinian youth at the mosque planned to cause disturbances.
