Israel pressed its hunt for Palestinian Resistance men who killed four Israelis in a roadside ambush in the West Bank, the second attack in two days following Israel's brutal air raid in the Gaza Strip. The shootings capped a week of bloodshed that threw a new wrench into efforts to restart an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and left the United States at odds with other countries in formulating an international response.

New UN Security Council talks Friday on the Middle East adjourned quickly after Washington said it would oppose any resolution that did not meet its conditions, including an explicit condemnation of armed Palestinians Resistance groups.
Israeli public radio said two or three Palestinians were involved in Friday's ambush that killed four Israelis on a road near the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

The attackers hid at a junction used by Jewish settlers near the village of Yatta south of Hebron and opened fire from both sides of the road at a passing van with automatic weapons.

The attackers also ambushed a second car travelling close behind, killing one person.

The attackers were believed to have fled into a nearby autonomous Palestinian zone. Occupation soldiers backed by helicopters entered Yatta and imposed a curfew.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed the attack as revenge for the Gaza air strike that targeted Salah Shehade, the military commander of Hamas.

The Israeli government reacted to Friday's ambush by demanding the international community condemn the attack as vigorously as it did the Gaza bombing.

In New York, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the latest violence and called on Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks, a spokesman said.

But the Security Council was deadlocked as diplomatic sources said a resolution proposed by Syria demanding an immediate end to Middle East bloodshed, including military action and terrorism, was shelved until Monday.

US Ambassador John Negroponte insisted his country would oppose the proposed resolution because it "does not advance the case for peace."

He said Washington would reject any text that did not include a strong statement against terrorism, condemnation of the Palestinian armed Resistance groups Jihad, Hamas and Al Aqsa and reciprocal action for any Israeli withdrawal.

PHOTO CAPTION

Police survey the damage to a settler's car after it was ambushed by Palestinian gunmen