UN envoy ‘strongly condemns’ latest Palestinian militant attacks in Israel

A senior United Nations official for the Middle East today strongly condemned two recent attacks by Palestinian militants in Israel and called on the Palestinian Authority to “bring to justice the perpetrators of these murderous acts.”

Terje Roed-Larsen, UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, urged the Authority to secure a ceasefire agreement from the groups who carried out the attacks – a suicide bombing in northern Israel today that killed a 63-year-old man and a shooting on a highway in central Israel on Tuesday that killed a seven-year-old girl.

In a statement, Mr. Roed-Larsen emphasized “that all violence and terror must cease in order to give the Road Map a chance to finally bring a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

The Road Map peace plan, drawn up by the diplomatic Quartet – UN, United States, European Union and Russian Federation – calls for the Israelis and Palestinians to take a series of parallel and reciprocal steps culminating in two states living side by side in peace and security by 2005.