U.S. Denounces Targeted Killings

Reacting sharply to the murder of a Palestinian leader, the State Department said Monday that Israel's targeted killings of Palestinians only inflame an already volatile situation and make it much harder to restore calm.

Spokesman Richard Boucher commented after Israeli rockets killed Mustafa Zibri,63, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was the most prominent Palestinian to be killed in recent years.

"The escalation and violence in recent days in the Middle East threatens to overwhelm any chance of restoring calm and of implementing the Mitchell committee recommendations,'' Boucher said.

He said Israelis and Palestinians know what needs to be done to end their confrontation and to change the situation on the ground.

"Above all, the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) needs to take sustained incredible steps to pre-empt terror and arrest those responsible, as well as take steps to bring the violence under control,'' he said.

At the same time, he said if the situation on the ground is to improve, then Israel must also take the economic and security steps that are necessary "to alleviate the pressure, the hardship and the humiliations of the Palestinian population.''