Jewish settlers killed three Palestinians and wounded four as family was heading back home from a wedding party in the Hebron area in the West Bank late Thursday.
Abu Dhabi satellite channel correspondent said that a three-month-old baby was killed together with two members of his family in an ambush staged by members the so-called Road Security Committee, who stopped the car and showered its passengers with machinegun fire, killing the three and injuring four, one seriously.
The baby was identified as Dhiyaa Tmeizi, said the station, adding that his 18-year-old sister Samar received a bullet in her spine and was under surgery.
The other victims were not identified.
In response, the Palestinian Authority held Israel "entirely responsible" for the attack which occurred on the way to the family’s village, Ithna.
"We hold the Israeli government responsible for the explosion of the situation and for this dangerous escalation which has resulted in the murder of Palestinians near Hebron by extremist settlers," Nabil Abu Rudeina, advisor to Arafat, told AFP.
Rudeina called on "the international community, including the American administration and the countries of the G8 meeting in Italy, to intervene immediately to stop the Israeli aggressions."
The G8 foreign ministers meeting in Rome called in a stamen for sending international monitors to the region. Israel immediately rejected the recommendation, while top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the G8 statement, saying that the Israeli rejection indicates that the Jewish state is the party against peace efforts, contrary to what its propaganda is trying to prove by pinning blame on the Palestinians for the violence – Albawaba.com
