Five members of an Israeli family were murdered in their beds in Itamar, a West Bank settlement, in an attack blamed on Palestinians, sparking a huge manhunt and international condemnation.
Media reports said a baby girl of three months, two children aged three and 11, and their parents Ehud and Ruth Vogel were all stabbed to death in the Friday night attack in Itamar near the town of Nablus.
Army radio said two other children had been spared and a third, a girl of 10, had arrived home late and alerted neighbours that something was wrong.
In a statement issued in New York, the Middle East Quartet (United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation, and the United States) issued the following statement:
"The Quartet condemns in the strongest possible terms the violent murder of an Israeli family of five, including three young children, in the West Bank today. The Quartet offers their condolences to the loved ones of the victims and to the Israeli people. Attacks on any civilians are completely unacceptable in any circumstance. The Quartet calls on those responsible to be brought to justice and welcomes the strong condemnation of this attack by President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership."
The Quartet in its statement also emphasized the need "to expedite efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."