World leaders have called for an end tothe spiralling violence in the Middle East as the risk of all-outwar increases.
US President George W Bush, UN leader Mr Kofi Annan and Europeanand EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana were among those voicingconcern at the escalation in the fighting which saw Israel use warplanes to hit Palestinian targets for the first time since the startof the uprising last September.
The spiral of retaliatory attacks continued Saturday with apowerful bomb blast in central Jerusalem in the early hours of themorning. That blast caused no injuries but added to the tension onthe ground.
A Palestinian man was killed byIsraeli army gunfire at a Palestinian security post in the northernWest Bank village of Silat al-Harthiah, near Jenin, Palestinianhospital sources said.
President Bush said he was "deeply concerned" bythe suicide bombing in a shopping centre in Netanya, north of TelAviv.
"It is essential that the leaders in the Middle East speak outclearly against violence. We must break the cycle of violence inorder to begin meaningful discussions about any kind of politicalsettlement," he said, adding that his administration "will continueto work with the parties involved, reminding folks that violencewill not lead to peace."
"Violence will make it so difficult for there to be anypolitical settlement," he added.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell called for an "unconditionalcessation of violence on the part of all," speaking at a joint pressconference with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.
Mr Annan condemned as disproportionate theIsraeli air aids against Palestinian areas.
In a statement, Mr Annan described the suicide bombing as an"appalling terrorist attack" but said he was "deeply disturbed bythe disproportionate Israeli response".
Mr Solana said: "I want to condemn it in the strongest words.
"We have to stop this cycle of violence, andwe are trying from the European Union to do our most."
Mr Solana returns to the region tomorrow as the European Unionthrows its support behind an Egyptian-Jordanian proposal to endIsraeli-Palestinian violence.
The EU is also backing the Mitchell Commission report, which Mr Solana helped to draw up.
The report into the origins of violence that has rocked theregion since September calls for a total freeze on Jewishsettlements, and criticises what it describes as excessive use offorce against unarmed demonstrators.
AFP