The United States Saturday condemned as a "heinous crime" the "terrorist attack" that killed five members of an Israeli settler family in the West Bank, dpa reported.
"There is no possible justification for the killing of parents and children in their home," the White House press secretary said in a statement.
"We call on the Palestinian Authority to unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack and for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be held accountable."
The armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place in the settlement of Itamar, near the West Bank city of Nablus earlier Saturday.
Two parents and three of their children, aged 11, 3 and 3 months were stabbed to death as they slept while three other children were able to flee to a neighbour's home.