Four Israelis to be charged with anti-Arab 'terror': justice

Israeli prosecutors will file charges Sunday against four Jews for their involvement in "severe terror against Arabs and their property", the justice ministry said.

Security officials told AFP Saturday night the charges are linked to the July firebombing of a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Duma, which resulted in the death of three members of the Dawabsha family.

A statement from the justice ministry noted that two of the suspects, who will be charged at the Lod district court at 0730 GMT, were minors.

Israel has been under heavy pressure to try those responsible for the attack, with rights groups questioning the delay in the case and contrasting it to the swift reaction often following Palestinian attacks.

The Shin Bet internal security service has held suspects under administrative detention, denied some of the right to see a lawyer part of the time and used physical force during investigations.

Supporters of the suspects -- religious extremists known as "hilltop youth" who oppose the "secular" Israeli state -- denounced those methods as torture.

The Shin Bet denies using any illegal methods, and has stressed that the entire investigation was conducted under the supervision of State Attorney Yehuda Weinstein.

Eighteen-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha was killed and his parents fatally injured in the July 31 firebombing. His four-year-old brother was the sole survivor from the immediate family.

A Star of David and the words "revenge" and "long live the Messiah" were spray-painted on a wall near the family's small house.

The attack drew renewed attention to Jewish extremism and accusations Israel had not done enough to prevent such violence.

The "hilltop youth" have been blamed for violence and vandalism targeting Palestinians, Christian holy sites and even Israeli military property.

Palestinians have often highlighted the lack of progress in the case as among the causes of a wave of knife, gun and car-ramming attacks targeting Israelis that began on October 1.