PARIS - France accused Israel today of violating international humanitarian law during its incursions into Palestinian towns over the past week and called for a stop to the deadly raids.
"Israel's military actions in the West Bank must cease," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We demand an immediate halt to these operations."
The statement said that the Foreign Ministry had summoned Israel's ambassador to France today to express its concern.
Israel launched a series of military incursions in response to the killing of Cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi on October 17th. Violence continued today, when four Palestinians were killed in incidents in the West Bank towns of Bethlehem and Tulkarm.
"We want to express our deep concern about the Palestinian population which has been facing an intolerable situation of military siege for six days, in violation of international humanitarian law," the ministry statement said.
It said that a hospital in Bethlehem that housed an orphanage and maternity ward had come under fire during the last two days.
"These actions could have dramatic consequences," the statement said. It added that the Palestinians must "continue to assume their proper responsibilities."
Forty-two Palestinians have been killed by IDF troops in the territories since the assassination last week of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
The B'tselem Israeli human rights organization released a report today indicating that 16 members of the Palestinian Authority security forces were among the dead.
Twenty-six of the dead Palestinians were civilians, including four women and five minors.
A number of those classified as "civilians" were members of the Tanzim militia, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other armed groups, Israel Radio reported.
B?Tselem urged Israel to: