Clinton condemns ‘savage brutality’ in killing of 4 Israelis in West Bank

Secretary Clinton has condemned the killing of four Israelis in the West Bank Tuesday as "savage brutality has no place in any country, under any circumstances." Hamas has claimed responsibility for the killings, which it says are the first in a series of attacks in its assault on the Middle East peace talks starting this week in Washington. Clearly, Clinton won’t let such senseless violence derail the talks.

Clinton’s complete remarks, made Tuesday before her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are below:

Well, let me express our deepest sympathy to the families who have lost their loved ones. This kind of savage brutality has no place in any country, under any circumstances. The forces of terror and destruction cannot be allowed to continue. It is one of the reasons why the prime minister is here today: to engage in direct negotiations with those Palestinians who themselves have rejected a path of violence in favor of a path of peace. We have to not only stand against the kind of horrific murders we saw today on behalf of the four who were lost and, as the prime minister said, the seven orphans who have been brutally deprived of their parents, but on behalf of all people — Israelis, Palestinians, everyone who knows that there is no answer when violence begets violence. And I thank the prime minister for his leadership in seeking a different future for the children of Israel. And we pledge to do all we can, always, to protect and defend the State of Israel and to provide security to the Israeli people. That is one of the paramount objectives that Israel has that the United States supports in these negotiations.

(In the Sept. 1 photo above, family and mourners express grief at a memorial service for the four deceased.)