Shooting victims mourned as attack is condemned

Hundreds attended the funerals of four Israelis killed in an attack by a Palestinian faction trying to scuttle the start of peace talks.

Yitzhak Ames, 47, and his wife Tali, 45; Kochava Even-Haim, 37; and Avishai Schindler, 24, all from Beit Hagai in the southern Hebron Hills, were buried Wednesday morning. The Ames couple were the parents of six children ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 19. Even-Haim had an 8-year-old daughter.

Also Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the Tuesday night shooting attack, calling it “a cynical and blatant attempt to undermine the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations starting tomorrow.”

A Palestinian field near Hebron was set on fire Wednesday, reportedly by Jewish settlers in response to the attack. The fire was extinguished before it damaged the field, according to reports.

Overnight Tuesday, Palestinian Authority security forces arrested more than 200 Hamas-affiliated suspects in the Hebron area in connection with the shootings. The military wing of Hamas reportedly has claimed responsibility for the attack in which gunmen opened fire on the victims’ car at the entrance to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday night condemned “all acts that target Palestinian and Israeli civilians,” adding that the attack was meant to “disrupt the peace process and can’t be regarded as an act of resistance.”