Mr Colin Powell said yesterday's attack by three Palestinian groups that killed four Israeli soldiers must not be allowed to wreck the "road map" for peace in the Middle East.
"What we have to do now is make sure we don't allow this tragic, terrible incident to derail the momentum of the road map that got started at the Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba summits last week," the US Secretary of State said yesterday.
The attack by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which came despite peace pledges given by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, came only days after Mr Bush travelled to the Middle East for talks to boost US-backed plans for Palestinian statehood by 2005.
Powell said the long-waited "road map" was a "top priority" for Mr Bush but that Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must cooperate to rein in terrorism.
Mr Powell told reporters the United States was in touch with Mr Abbas and the Israelis, "making sure that we don't allow this kind of terrorist activity to achieve the terrorists' purpose, which is to derail our efforts toward the road map".
Mr Powell said the United States would give Mr Abbas practical help to deal with the militant groups. The Palestinian prime minister ruled out talks with Hamas after it suspended truce talks because of Mr Abbas's conciliatory stance toward Israel.
Mr Powell singled out Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for criticism. "Yasser Arafat has to play a more positive role than he's been playing in recent days or over the last couple of years," he said, making clear that the United States was throwing its weight behind Mr Abbas, not Mr Arafat.
He also said it would be "difficult for Israel to make the difficult choices that it is expected to make under the road map if it is constantly being assaulted by terrorists".