Four Israelis shot dead in West Bank by Hamas in bid to derail Washington peace talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington for the talks, condemned the fresh violence but vowed he would resume negotiations with Palestinians after a dinner with President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr Abbas, from the Fatah faction, which governs the West Bank, also denounced the killings but his Palestinian rivals, Hamas, claimed responsibility.

"Hamas praises the attack and regards it as a natural response to the crimes of the occupation," a Hamas spokesman said from Gaza, which Hamas governs.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "this kind of savage brutality has no place in any country under any circumstances".

She reaffirmed security assurances after a meeting with Mr Netanyahu yesterday. "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 favour of a path of peace," she said.

"We pledge to do all we can always to protect and defend the state of Israel and to provide security to the Israeli people."

Mr Netanyahu said: "We will not let the blood of Israeli civilians go unpunished. We will find the murderers, we will punish their dispatchers."

But despite the angry words, Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said his country was "committed to peace" and the attack would not prevent the talks from going ahead.

Hamas opposes any peace talks. It refuses to renounce violence against Israel and says Mr Abbas does not represent the majority of Palestinians.

The US has refused to allow Hamas any role in the peace process until it renounces violence.

As a response to the shootings, the settler movement announced an immediate resumption of building in the West Bank.

Settlers' leader General Naftali Bennett said: "For 120 years of Zionism, when our people were killed, the answer was always to build."

Last November, Mr Netanyahu announced a 10-month moratorium on new construction in the West Bank following US pressure.

Palestinians argue there should be no more building in settlements until the status of the West Bank is decided under any peace agreement and that if it continues, it will be impossible for a Palestinian state to be formed.

Israel argues that any indefinite freeze is impracticable as the 300,000 or so Jewish residents who live in the three main settlement blocs need to accommodate "natural growth".

Jewish settlements began after Israel took control of the West Bank in the 1967 war and Mr Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister to have brought in any sort of freeze.

That freeze expires on September 26 and Mr Netanyahu is under domestic pressure from his government partners to lift that ban.

The four killed were believed to include a pregnant woman and the parents of six children.

Mr Obama was expected to host separate meetings not only with Mr Abbas and Mr Netanyahu, but also with key regional powerbrokers King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House before dining with the five leaders and diplomatic Quartet representative Tony Blair.

The meetings were designed to help launch direct talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders tonight.

Additional reporting: AFP