US Secretary of State Colin Powell branded Hamas an "enemy of peace" in Jerusalem today and called for stepped-up international pressure against it and other militant groups.
Senior Hamas official Mr Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was wounded in an Israeli missile strike in Gaza last week, said in response: "Colin Powell proved that he is a real slave to the Zionists, a liar and a hypocrite."
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Palestinian protesters burn an Israeli flag during a rallyby different militant groups in the West Bank Photo: Reuters
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Hamas, the main Palestinian group behind a campaign of suicide bombings during a 32-month-old uprising for independence, has rejected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's calls for an end to attacks on Israelis.
"The enemy of peace has been Hamas, especially over the last two weeks," Mr Powell said during a trip to salvage a peace "road map". "As long as they have...a commitment to terror and violence and a desire to destroy the state of Israel, I think this is a problem we have to deal with in its entirety."
The radical Islamic group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, claimed responsibility for a Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 17 people last week after a failed Israeli attempt on Rantissi's life. The bombing was followed by a series of Israeli air strikes that killed militants and civilians.
Mr Powell was intent on refocusing both leaders on commitments they made at a June 4th peace summit with US President George W. Bush in Jordan in which they affirmed a peace "road map" that envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
"President Bush is committed that we must . . . keep moving forward and push through, blast through those who would try to stop us, who would try to keep us from our goal of peace through acts of violence and terror," Mr Powell told reporters after meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
But sources on both sides saw little chance of a breakthrough during Mr Powell's seven-hour stint of shuttle diplomacy.
Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs also faced difficulties trying to hammer out a deal on an Israeli troop pullback in the northern Gaza Strip and West Bank city of Bethlehem as proving grounds for wider military withdrawals.
After talks with Mr Sharon, Mr Powell was to head to the West Bank town of Jericho to see Mr Abbas. Mr Powell returns to Jordan later in the day for an economic conference this weekend.