Brussels, 14/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Quartet for peace in the Middle East (US, EU, Russia and the UN) has strongly responded to the killing of civilians in the Palestinian territories. It considers that “attacks against civilians are totally unacceptable in all circumstances” and is demanding that “those responsible for the attack in the West Bank be brought to justice”. The Quartet declaration was made on Sunday 13 March, following the killing of a family of Israeli settlers in Palestinian territory. It condemns “in the strongest possible terms” this murder and sends its condolences to “the loved ones of the victims and to the Israeli people”. The Quartet welcomes “the strong condemnation of this attack by President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership” and emphasises “the need to expedite efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace”.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli minister for home affairs, Eli Yishaï, responded on Sunday to the government's approval of “hundreds of new accommodation units in the settlements” and declared, “I will not stop at 400 units. We need at least 1,000 for each person killed” and “the Palestinian Authority is currently raising generations of killers”. On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority described the announcement of new constructions as negative and an “unacceptable” development.
The newspaper also noted that Tzipi Livni, the head of the opposition, had criticised the attitude demonstrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the very moment that Israel finds itself “in a very sensitive situation”. She also said that the peace initiative should constitute the prime minister's main objective, but he is more concerned about maintaining his coalition than “efforts to make peace, which are important for Israel so that it does not have 'everyone on its back'. Mr Netanyahu has still not offered any real solution to the Palestinian question”. (F.B./transl.fl)