Heavy Casualties Among Palestinians ‘Disturb’ U.S.

The United States said today it is “disturbed” by the high number of Palestinians killed and wounded by Israeli troops in the violent aftermath of the murders of seven Arabs by an Israeli gunman.

“We’re disturbed by the number of casualties inflicted by the Israeli army,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

“We’ve repeatedly called on the government of Israel to exercise restraint in these situations in order to avoid heavy casualties such as took place (Sunday),” he said.

Boucher said the lack of a workable peace process in the Middle East increases the danger that such incidents could provoke a spiral of violence.

“When you have this kind of very horrible, very tragic sort of incident and then that’s followed by responses that lead to further violence, we see that as another sign that there must be a peace process and people have to be able to believe in a peace process,” he said.

He said U.S. Ambassador to Israel William Brown met with Palestinian leaders in the Gaza Strip and officials from the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem met with Palestinians in the West Bank to discuss the incident.

As Boucher spoke, about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched peacefully in front of the State Department, calling for the United States to support an end to the Israeli occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state.

U.S.-Israeli relations have been under increasing strain recently, and today’s statement appeared to link Israel’s refusal or inability to agree to a U.S. formula for a peace dialogue with the explosion of violence.