Palestinians presss for emergency UN security council meeting to halt bloodshed

The Palestine National Authority (PNA) on Sunday described Israel's killing "in cold blood" eleven Palestinians, including five children, only in the past twenty-four hours, as "state terrorism," and condemned world community silence, especially that of the U.S. administration on the issue, reported palestinechronicle.com on its website.

"We call on the international community to stop this bloodshed, this killing in cold blood, this state terrorism. We don't hear the US administration or any other state speaking out about the killing of Palestinian children," said PNA chief negotiator Saeb Oreikat.

Top advisor to President Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeina, called on the Middle East Quartet, made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, to break off contact with Israel.

"This is the third crime in 48 hours, and a dangerous escalation," he said, adding that the Palestinian leadership intended to press for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss measures against Israel.

"This escalation is designed to scare the Palestinian people and make them surrender. This is state terrorism," Oreikat said, adding, "The president of the United States said he'll fight terrorism, but Washington should know they are helping the biggest act of terrorism in the world, the Israeli occupation."

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians near a Jewish settlement in Hebron on Sunday, with the army calling the slain quarry workers returning late from work "militants armed with sabotage equipment." On Saturday the Israeli occupation forces killed five, including two children, by a helicopter missile attack on their car near the northern West Bank town of Tubas, and another child in Jenin.