‘CONFRONT ISRAEL’

Duma

The father of a Palestinian toddler killed when their home was firebombed by Jewish extremists last week died of his injuries yesterday, bringing a Hamas call for "confrontation" with Israel.

The arson attack in the village of Duma in the occupied West Bank triggered angry Palestinian protests and an international outcry over Israel's failure to curb violence by hardline Jewish settlers.

Saad Dawabsha died in hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba where he was being treated for third degree burns, Palestinian official Ghassan Daghlas said. 

Dawabsha's wife Riham and four-year-old son Ahmed are still fighting for their lives in another Israeli hospital after the arson attack which killed 18-month-old Ali on Friday of last week.

Israeli media reported that there had been signs of improvement in Ahmed's condition, although his life remains in danger.

They said that doctors at the Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv on Friday removed the respirator to which he had been attached for the previous week and that he opened his eyes and recognised those around him. Neither Israeli hospital could immediately be reached for comment on the Jewish sabbath.

The family's small brick and cement home in the occupied West Bank village of Duma was gutted by the fire and a Jewish Star of David spray-painted on a wall along with the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah".

"Nothing will stop these murderous settler attacks and... we cannot wait until they come into our villages and our homes," Hamas spokesman Hossam Badran wrote on Facebook from his base in Qatar yesterday.

"Our people in the West Bank have only one choice: that of open and comprehensive confrontation against the occupation."

Israeli public radio reported that the army was on the alert for possible unrest in the West Bank and for "Palestinian revenge attacks." The United Nations called on both sides to work together for calm.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the attack as "terrorism in every respect", and vowed to spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice.He ordered a crackdown on Jewish extremism that has seen three suspects detained.