Civilian Palestinian Deaths Prompt Israeli Apologies
Israeli soldiers, saying they had been warned of an attack, shot and killed four Palestinians near a Jewish settlement's vineyard in the West Bank on Sunday. The shootings brought the weekend Palestinian death toll to 11, including two children and several other civilians.

Senior Israeli officials apologized for the loss of civilian lives, while Palestinians and some Israelis charged the army has lost its sense of restraint in its drive to crush the Palestinian uprising.

``Our hearts are full of sorrow,'' said Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. He called the civilian deaths ``very regrettable'' and said he was sure military officials ``will take every necessary step to prevent it from happening again.''

The army said the four Palestinians killed Sunday were trying to cut through a fence near the settlement of Kiryat Arba, outside Hebron. It said its soldiers had been warned that four Palestinians would attempt an attack in the area and opened fire when they saw the men. The four were killed near the settlement's vineyard, settlers and Palestinan witnesses said.

But Palestinian witnesses said the men were laborers in a nearby stone quarry who were shot without provocation.

Mohammed Manassa, a Palestinian who lives in the area, said he saw Israeli soldiers taking the men from the quarry and leading them down a hill. ``I heard shooting from about 200 meters (yards) away. I heard screams of pain and then it became quiet,'' Manassa said.

The army said it was checking claims the men were led away.

Israel has said the loss of civilian life is an unintended consequence of its campaign to stop suicide bombings. But some are asking if there has been a change in military policy giving soldiers more leeway when deciding whether to shoot.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called for an end to recent talks with the Israelis that have included a tentative agreement envisioning Israeli pullbacks in the West Bank and Gaza in exchange for Palestinian assurances against terror.

``After each meeting with the Israelis a new massacre happens somewhere in the Palestinian territories,'' he said

The weekend violence came after Israeli tank fire killed four Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday -- a mother, her two sons and an uncle.

Speaking at a ceremony at the foreign ministry, Foreign Minister Peres insisted, ``We are not trigger happy.''

But Haim Ramon, a lawmaker from Peres' center-left Labor party, said he wants to know if there has been a change in the army's rules of engagement ``in the direction of leniency toward the finger that squeezed the trigger.''

He said the killing of innocent people threatens Israeli security because it ``damages our international standing'' and ``brings into the cycle of terrorism more people who did not previously intend to join it.''

Israeli newspaper columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in the Yediot Ahronot daily that the tentative contacts with the Palestinians should be given a chance to bear fruit.

``What is the use of heating things up by means of proactive military operations?'' he wrote. ``The Palestinians will respond with a wave of terror attacks.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html