JAPAN DENOUNCES ATTACK IN DUMA BY ISRAELI SETTLERS

Tokyo, 19 Shawal 1436/4 August 2015 (MINA) – Japan expressed its shock over Jewish settlers’ arson attack against two houses in the Nablus village of Duma on July 31, killing an 18-month-old infant and seriously injuring his family members.

Japan strongly condemns the ‘terrorist attack’, and called on the Israeli authorities to conduct an “urgent and transparent investigation and take appropriate measures to avoid the recurrence of such a tragedy, ” Yasuhisa Kawamura, Japan’s Foreign Press Secretary, said in a statement issued on Monday.

“Japan calls on the parties concerned to exercise restraint to ensure the incident not to escalate and also calls on both sides to act positively to realize peace,” said the statement, Palestinian News And Info Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Japan further expressed its condolences to the family and prayed for early recovery for the injured.

The arson , which was not the first committed by Israeli settlers, was vehemently condemned as a terrorist act by almost all the countries, including the United States and the Israeli government.

Though Israeli Prime Minister pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, President Mahmoud Abbas questioned the Israeli government’s commitment to end violence, saying the Israeli government would have been able to stop settlers’ violence if it really wanted to do that.

Abbas announced that the Palestinian leadership would prepare a file on the  crime and submit it to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“What happened in Duma is added to a record of crimes committed by the settlers and the Israeli government, because it sponsors settlement activities and encourages settlers’ to do that,” Abbas said. (T/P011/RO6)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)