WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday vowed to ensure security in the Palestinian territory by making more efforts to hunt perpetrators responsible for the Tuesday killing of four Israelis in the West Bank, saying "security is fundamental and sensitive."
The statement came as Abbas was speaking at a ceremony chaired by U.S. Secretary of State to relaunch the direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the first over the past 20 months with an aim to end a six-decade conflict between the two sides in one year.
"Yesterday we condemned the (terrorist) operations," Abbas said. "We did not only condemn them, but we also followed the perpetrators and we were able to find the car that was used" in the shooting incident.
"We will continue all our efforts to take security measures in order to find the perpetrators," he said. "We can not allow for anyone to do anything that would undermine your security and our security."
In a swift response to the shooting, Abbas' forces rounded up 250 Hamas supporters throughout the West Bank in what the group said was the largest sweep in recent memory, reports said.
Abbas and his Fatah movement consolidated their rule in the West Bank after they lost Gaza to Hamas, which holds sway in the coastal Strip.
The direct talks, which kicked off at the State Department on Thursday morning, is also the first face-to-face meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu since the latter took office in April 2009, three months after the end of Israel's military operation in Gaza, which caused the direct talks to stop at the time.
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Palestinians to trace the killers in order to save the Middle East peace process.
"The last few days were difficult," Netanyahu said. "They were exceedingly difficult for my people and for me. Blood has been shed. The blood of innocents. Four innocent Israelis gunned down brutally. Two people wounded."
"President Abbas, you condemned this killing. That's important, " he said. "No less important is to find the killers. And equally, to make sure that we can stop other killers who seek to kill our people, kill our state, kill our peace."
"So achieving security is a must. Security is the foundation of peace. Without it peace will unravel. With it, peace can be stable and enduring," the Israeli prime minister said.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Clinton saw the killing as "yet additional reminders of the human cost of this conflict."
"The Tragic act of terror on Tuesday and the terrorist shooting yesterday are yet additional reminders of the human cost of this conflict," she said. "But by being here today, you each have taken an important step toward bringing your peoples from the shackles of a history we can not change, and moving toward a future of peace and dignity only you can create."
