Palestinian minister demands end to suicide attacks

JERUSALEM – The Palestinian interior minister said in an interview published Friday that militants must halt suicide bombings against Israelis or else face "isolation" by Palestinian society.

"Stop the suicide bombings, stop the murders for no reason," Abdel Razzak al-Yahya said in remarks to an Israeli newspaper published a day after Israeli troops killed four members of a Palestinian family in Gaza, drawing Hamas vows of retaliation.

The Israeli attack, which prompted Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to express regret and order an army investigation, put new strains on a nearly two-week-old security deal meant to lay the groundwork for a cease-fire.

It also dealt a fresh blow to efforts by Yahya, named interior minister in June as part of a series of reforms demanded by Washington, to persuade militant groups that suicide attacks hurt the Palestinian nationalist cause.

Raising the specter of conflict on a second front, Israel demanded Syria and Lebanon restrain Hizbollah guerrillas or face retaliation after an attack on the northern border Thursday that wounded three soldiers and drew Israeli air strikes.

Israeli security sources said Ben-Eliezer told visiting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield that Israel would not stand idle if Hizbollah rocket fire continued.

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