New York, NY, August 31, 2010 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said today's killings of four Israelis, including a pregnant woman, in the West Bank shows that Hamas "is unrepentantly engaged in terrorism and violence, and dedicated to the eradication of the State of Israel."

The four were traveling in a car outside of the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba when they were fired upon.  Hamas claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We strongly condemn Hamas for the murder of four innocent Israelis in Kiryat Arba.

 

This attack demonstrates once and again that Hamas is unrepentantly engaged in terrorism and violence, and dedicated to the eradication of the State of Israel.  The fact that, according to reports, thousands of people in Gaza joined in a public celebration of the attack is grotesque.

 

We call on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership to make clear to all Palestinians – in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – that terrorism is unacceptable, and that it undermines the Palestinian efforts for an independent state.  The U.S. Administration must also sharply condemn this incident, and make clear to the Palestinians that terrorism and incitement violate the spirit of the impending peace talks.