Vatican denounces spiral of violence in Holy Land

VATICAN CITY, June 14 (Reuters) The Vatican today called for peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, saying the Holy Land had become ''hostage'' to those who believe its problems can be solved by force or unilateral action.

A statement said Pope Benedict was worried about episodes of ''increasingly blind violence'' between Israelis and Palestinians and urged them to return to negotiations.

It said the Pope felt close to the innocent victims in the Holy Land, ''which has become hostage to those who delude themselves that they can resolve the region's increasingly dramatic problems with force or in a unilateral way''.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian fighter in the West Bank early on Wednesday, hours after a Gaza missile strike on a van carrying militants and rockets killed 11 Palestinians, nine of them civilians.

The strike signalled Israel would not flinch from targeting rocket squads in densely populated areas in spite of an outcry over the deaths of seven Palestinians on a Gaza beach on Friday in a blast Palestinian militants blamed on Israeli shellfire.

Hamas, which took control of the Palestinian Authority in March, declared an end to a 16-month truce with the Jewish state. Israel has said it was not responsible for the blast.

The Vatican appealed to both sides ''to show due respect for human life, especially that of unarmed civilians and children'' and urged them to find the courage to resume peace talks.

The Vatican also urged the international community to rapidly approve funds for humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The European Union is drawing up an aid plan and has urged Israel to release the 55 million dollars a month in tax revenues it collects on the Palestinians' behalf and has been withholding since Hamas came to power.

Major Western donors froze direct aid to the Palestinian government after the Hamas Islamists won January's elections and refused to recognise Israel, renounce violence or embrace interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.

Fears of a humanitarian crisis prompted them to consider ways of channelling aid to the most needy while bypassing Hamas.

REUTERS CH VV1908