Five members of an Israeli settlers’ family were stabbed to death in their beds yesterday in an attack that is being blamed by Israel on a Palestinian terrorist.
An intruder entered the family’s home at the West Bank settlement of Itamar, southeast of Nablus, and murdered the parents and three children aged 11, 3 and one month. The baby girl had been sleeping in her parents’ bed.
Two other children, aged 4 and 2, were spared. The bodies were discovered yesterday after another daughter, aged 12, returned from a Scouts evening and could not get into the house.
A neighbour smashed down the front door and discovered the carnage. The two children who had been left alive were sobbing and clinging to their parents’ bodies.
A paramedic who was among the first to arrive said: “The murder scene was shocking: kids’ toys right next to pools of blood.” He said a three-year-old boy still had a pulse when they arrived but they were unable to resuscitate him.
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Israelis reacted with horror to the attack, which will prove another obstacle to the resumption of peace talks.
“This is the despicable murder of an entire, innocent family, parents and their young ones while they slept in their house,” said Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister. “Israel will not ignore such a contemptible murder and will act aggressively to ensure the security of its civilians and to punish the murderers.”
Roadblocks were put up around Nablus and a huge manhunt was launched to find the killer, who cut through barbed wire to get into the settlement before entering the house through a window.
Dani Dayan, the chairman of the settlers’ council, said: “This is no doubt one of the most terrible attacks in recent years.”
Israeli forces arrested scores of supporters of Hamas, the hardline Palestinian movement, in nearby villages last night.