White House Rebukes Israel for Attack, Calls It 'Heavy-Handed'
President Bush issued one of his sharpest rebukes against Israel today, denouncing as "heavy-handed" the attack that killed a Hamas leader and expressing regret over "the loss of innocent life."

"This heavy-handed action does not contribute to peace," said the president's chief spokesman, Ari Fleischer. "This message will be conveyed to Israeli authorities, and the United States regrets the loss of life."

While he emphasized that Mr. Bush remained a strong supporter of Israel over all, Mr. Fleischer underscored the criticism by rejecting any comparison between the strike against the Hamas leader and those American operations in Afghanistan that have killed civilians.

"It is inaccurate to compare the two, because the United States, because of an errant bomb, a mistake in a mission, has occasionally engaged in military action that very regrettably included losses of innocent lives," Mr. Fleischer said.

By contrast, he said, the Israeli operation "was a deliberate attack on the site, knowing that innocents would be lost in the consequences of the attack."

Asked how the administration could be so sure that Israel knew that civilians were in the building, Mr. Fleischer replied, "These were apartment buildings that were targeted."

The White House reaction was markedly different from the administration's response to other recent Israeli military operations, especially those following attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian suicide bombers. In those instances, Mr. Bush has generally urged Israel to show as much restraint as possible but has emphasized that he recognizes the country's right to defend itself.

The Bush administration also rebuked Israel for its recent closing of the Jerusalem office of a leading Palestinian moderate, Sari Nusseibeh.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/international/23CND-PREX.html