Annan appalled by deadly attack on kibbutz

Reacting to Sunday’s attack on Kibbutz Metzer in Israel, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he is appalled by the incident, which left five people dead, including a mother and her two children, and reiterated his condemnation of all terrorist acts against civilians.

A statement by a spokesman for the Secretary-General called “once again on all Palestinian groups to stop immediately all such acts of violence,” saying Mr. Annan remains “very concerned” at the broader issue of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, including both terrorist acts and the ongoing policy of extra-judicial killings.

Earlier today, Terje Roed Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, condemned “this murderous act as morally and ethically unacceptable.”

Such actions, he said, also spur further hatred and mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians, which all too often lead to the deaths of innocent civilians. Mr. Roed-Larsen urged all parties to exert maximum restraint to avoid entering a new stage in the bloody cycle of violence that has engulfed them for the past two years.