Russia sharply criticised Israel today for sending tanks into Palestinian-run territory to destroy a police building, saying the action would only fuel extremism and terrorism.
Israeli tanks overnight rumbled into the West Bank town of Jenin, branded by Israel as a hornets' nest of suicide bombers, and flattened a police building before withdrawing.
The operation was one of a series of moves aimed at warning Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority to rein in militants, after a suicide bomber killed 15 people in a Jerusalem pizzeria last week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry urged the Palestinian Authority to take decisive steps to halt the activities of extremists, but said the Israeli response was counterproductive.
"Such a line only aggravates the situation, multiplies the number of victims, feeds extremism and terrorism, and distances the chances of reconciliation", the Foreign Ministry said in a communique.
It said Israel should refrain from repressive methods, such as shooting at Palestinian targets, or allowing the army to enter zones under the full control of the Palestinian Authority.
Moscow is a co-sponsor with Washington of the collapsed Palestinian-Israeli peace process, but its influence in the Middle East has been on the wane since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
