Quartet condemns Itamar stabbings, calls for peace talks

White House calls on PA "to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable."

By REUTERS
quartet REUTERS 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
quartet REUTERS 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Quartet of Middle East mediators condemned the killings in Itamar and said overnight Saturday that it "welcomes the strong condemnation of this attack by President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership."
The grouping of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations stressed the need "to expedite efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."
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The United States on Saturday called the stabbings a terrorist attack and urged the Palestinian Authority to "unequivocally" condemn the killings.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the murder of five Israelis in a terrorist attack in the northern West Bank, and we offer our condolences to their loved ones and to the Israeli people," the White House said in a statement.
A Jewish couple and three of their children were stabbed to death in Itamar on Saturday in what Israeli officials said was an attack by a Palestinian who broke into their home in the early hours.
"There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home," The White House said.
"We call on the Palestinian Authority to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable."