Washington, July 20: The US has flayed an Israeli proposal to deport the families of suspected Palestinian militants and said Washington would take up the matter with Tel Aviv. "Taking punitive actions against innocent people will not solve Israel's security problems," US State department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday.
"The (President George W Bush's) administration would raise the issue with the Israeli government," he added.
Boucher was responding to Israel's demolition of the homes of the families of two Palestinians allegedly responsible for two attacks against Israeli civilians this week and arrested a number of family members.
The criticism came in the wake of a meeting on Thursday between President Bush and Egyptian, Saudi and Jordanaian diplomats.

The diplomats praised Bush's strong commitment to move forward quickly on plans for Palestinian security reform, withdrawal of Israeli troops to their September 2000 positions, preparations for Palestinian elections and final Palestinian statehood within three years.

Bureau Report