JERUSALEM, March 13: An Israeli family of five, including a baby, stabbed to death in a weekend attack on a settlement, were buried on Sunday as the government vowed to build hundreds more settler homes.
As the hunt for the killers continued, at least 20,000 mourners packed into the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem, the hillside graveyard echoing withThe attackers broke into the family home in Itamar settlement near Nablus on Friday night, and in a frenzied stabbing attack killed five members of the Fogel family -- three-month-old Hadas, four-year-old Elad, Yoav, 11, and their parents Udi and Ruthie.Israeli police went on high alert and the army said troops had been ordered “to be vigilant” for any attempted revenge attacks.
As soldiers continued their search, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ministers had approved construction of “several hundred housing units within the settlement blocs” of Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ariel and Kiryat Sefer.
The decision won a nod from the Yesha settlers' council but was furiously denounced by the Palestinians.
“This decision by the government is a small step in the right direction,” a Yesha statement said, but added: “It is deeply troubling that it requires the murder of children in the arms of their parents to achieve such an objective.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat condemned the move, said that the Palestinian Authority “strongly condemns the decision of the Israeli government to speed up and increase the building of settlements.” Nabil Abu Rudeina, President Mahmud Abbas's spokesman, said in a statement:
“The decision taken to build new settlements is a mistake and unacceptable. It will destroy everything and will lead to big problems.” Late on Sunday, Netanyahu paid a condolence visit to the families of the victims, telling them that “they (the Palestinians) shoot and we build.”
“They say the Land of Israel is built on suffering, but who could have thought the suffering would be so great?” Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
The decision to build new settler homes was taken 24 hours after the bloodshed, which sparked a wave of international revulsion from the White House to Ramallah.
The Middle East peace Quartet also issued a statement condemning “in the strongest possible terms the violent murder of an Israeli family of five, including three young children, in the West Bank.”—AFP
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