The Palestinian security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that two groups had been arrested but did not specify exactly how many members of the Islamist movement were under arrest.

The first attack on August 31 claimed the lives of four settlers and the second on September 1 wounded two people east of Ramallah, the official said.

Hamas had claimed responsibility for gunning down four Israelis on the West Bank and the September 1 attack came the day before the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks for 20 months began in Washington.

Hamas later claimed to have made between 150 and 550 arrests over the killings but the Palestinian Authority said this was an exaggerated figure.

US President Barack Obama has branded the attack on two couples, including a pregnant woman, as "senseless slaughter," and warned about "extremists and rejectionists who, rather than seeking peace, are going to be seeking destruction.

"The message should go out to Hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring a secure Israel, but also securing a longer-lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded the killings "savagery and brutality."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the September attack in Kiryat Arba, a West Bank settlement, was intended to "disrupt the political process."

Hamas, which rules Gaza, is opposed to the peace talks and is a rival of Abbas's US-backed Palestinian Authority.

earlier related report
Gulf states 'welcome' Mideast peace talks relaunch
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (AFP) Sept 7, 2010 - Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers have said they "welcome" the relaunch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but warned that Israeli "acts of aggression" may compromise them.

"The ministerial council welcomes... the resumption of direct Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations... in hope that the talks (which were relaunched) in Washington will lead to... the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital," a statement said.

But after a meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday night, the six ministers warned that "continuing acts of aggression" by Israel could "undermine efforts to restore peace and stability in the region."

Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas resumed direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday, 20 months after he broke them off when Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The Arab League gave its backing to the Palestinian president's decision to relaunch the talks but last week the 22-nation bloc's secretary general Amr Mussa noted widespread pessimism in the region about their prospects.

On Iran, the Gulf ministers said they were following developments in the standoff over its controversial nuclear programme with "deep concern."

They said they hoped Iran would cooperate with diplomatic efforts to allay suspicions about its intentions.

They supported "the right of countries in the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes... under the standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency," and called on Israel, which has the region's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, to apply those standards as well.

The ministers called on Iraqi leaders to "form a national consensus government... away from any sectarian or ethnic considerations and foreign interference."

Six months after an inconclusive general election, Iraqi leaders remain at loggerheads over the formation of a new governing coalition.

Washington has called on them to form a national unity administration that ensures representation for all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups.

Iraqi politicians have blamed meddling by neighbouring countries for the deadlock, in what has been widely seen as an allusion to regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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