The European Union and US have condemned what the EU described as an Israeli policy of extra-judicial killings, after the helicopter gunship attack that killed a member of Palestinian president Mr Yasser Arafat's Force 17 security guards yesterday.
Israeli media report the attack on Mr Masoud Ayad was approved by outgoing prime minister Mr Ehud Barak, saying president-elect Mr Sharon had been told in advance of the plan.
US State Department spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said both Israeli and Palestinian tactics were causing a serious deterioration in violence which he said Washington was watching closely.
"The use of Israeli helicopter gunships, Palestinian attacks against settlements and motorists, the use of mortars by Palestinians and the targeted killings by the Israeli Defence Force . . . are producing a new cycle of action or reaction which can become impossible to control," Mr Boucher said.
He said new Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell, who will travel to the Middle East next week, had spoken several times about the need to avoid these kind of actions.
Western diplomats said the killing of Mr Ayad could intensify a surge of violence fuelled by the election of Mr Sharon - regarded by many Arabs as a war criminal for his role in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
This is exactly the kind of escalation we had feared, said a European diplomat close to recent peace talks.
Reuters