The European Union today condemned yesterday's Palestinian suicide attack in Israel that killed 14 and urged both sides to halt violence it said was undermining peace efforts.
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A casualty is carried on a stretcher away from a burning bus after Palestinian suicide bombers detonated a car bomb next to it on a road near the town of Pardes Hanna, northern Israel yesterday.
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In the latest attack, a jeep loaded with explosives and petrol cans blew up alongside a bus just outside the town of Pardes Hanna, killing at least 14 people. Around 50 were thought to have been wounded.
Such attacks, the EU said, "serve to fuel hatred and undermine attempts by the parties and the international community to bring about reconciliation and hope for a peaceful solution to the conflict".
Calling on the Palestinian Authority to prevent suicide bombings, the Danish EU presidency urged Israel and the Palestinians "to re-engage in security co-operation in order to reverse the spiral of violence.
"We repeat our previous calls to both parties to show maximum restraint," it said, underlining that "the international community . . . is seriously engaged in the search for progress towards reform, security and political dialogue".
The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack, saying it was to avenge the assassination of its founder seven years ago and in response to Israeli attacks.
AFP