JERUSALEM - Israel hunted for the perpetrators of a grisly murder of a family of five in a remote West Bank settlement Saturday, appealing for help from the Palestinian Authority, which sent security forces to join the manhunt.
The knife attack, which killed two young children, a baby and their parents as they slept, was the deadliest in years. It comes at a delicate moment, with pressure building on Israel to launch a new peace initiative and the Palestinians pushing for world recognition of an independent state - with or without a peace deal.
Israeli forces set up checkpoints throughout the area surrounding the Itamar settlement in the northern West Bank and were still sweeping the region late Saturday. Military officials said they had made some arrests but wouldn't provide details.
The governor of the nearby Palestinian city of Nablus, Jibril Bakri, told The Associated Press that Palestinian security forces were also searching for suspects. It was a rare instance of the two sides both searching for militants, though Israeli forces and those of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank do cooperate on security issues.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special security meeting to decide upon further action, saying he was "deeply shocked" by the attack.
"We all know, as those who want to strike at us will know, that the future of the settlements will not be decided upon by terror," he said. "Israel will not stand by idly after such a despicable murder and will act vigorously to safeguard the lives of the citizens of Israel and punish the murderers."
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a mostly defunct Palestinian militant group, took responsibility for the attack.
"Violence does not justify violence. We condemn it completely, whoever does it and whoever the victims are," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Netanyahu to condemn the attack as well.
Netanyahu said that was not enough and demanded Palestinians stop incitement "that is going on every day in their schools, in their mosques, in the media outlets they control."
"It is time to stop this double-speak, because the Palestinian Authority speaks peace outwards but allows incitement inwards," he said in a speech later Saturday.
In Gaza, a Hamas official applauded the attack and local residents celebrated the killing of the settlers.
Israeli officials said at least one Palestinian militant infiltrated the settlement, entered the family home and stabbed the parents and three of their children, ages 11, 3 and 4 months, as they slept.
Two young children asleep in another part of the house survived. Another family member, a 12-year-old girl, was away with a youth group when the attack occurred. She arrived home to discover the carnage and alerted authorities.
Israeli President Shimon Peres called the attack "one of the ugliest we have known."
"The murder of parents and their little children … indicates a loss of humanity," he said. "No religion and no faith in the world condones such atrocious acts."
The bloody nature of the attack immediately raised concerns about Jewish retribution. Col. Nimrod Aloni, a West Bank brigade commander, said the military was preparing for possible clashes between Palestinians and settlers.
