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What took Israel so long to arrest Douma murder suspects?

After four months of investigation, suspects in the murder of the Dawabsha family were apprehended — but will they be convicted?
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The gag order relating to the arrest of radical right-wing activists suspected of belonging to a Jewish terrorist cell and committing terror attacks was partially lifted on Dec. 3. Among other things, the detainees are suspected of having perpetrated the attack in the village of Douma on July 31, setting the Dawabsha house on fire and killing three family members — mother, Reham; father, Saed; and Ali, their 18-month-old baby. Only Ahmed, 5, survived. Although his life is not in danger, he is still hospitalized at Tel Hashomer Hospital in central Israel with serious burns all over his body.

The Israeli defense establishment is convinced that the terror attack in Douma was one of the triggers that unleashed the intifada that has been raging in Israel since the beginning of October. But the brutal murder of the Dawabsha family was not the catalyst that precipitated the escalation, but rather the fact that the perpetrators of that attack had not been captured for weeks on end. This stands in stark contrast to the efficiency and effectiveness of Israel’s General Security Service, the Shin Bet, in apprehending Palestinian terrorists.

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