Powell calls Hamas an 'enemy of peace'
As Mr Powell addressed a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, an Israeli motorist was killed and three were wounded in a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank.
Since a Mideast peace summit two weeks ago, 27 Israelis and 40 Palestinians have been killed. Four of the Palestinians were killed carrying out attacks on Israelis.
Mr Powell said the violence was all the more reason to implement the US-backed peace plan launched at the summit.
"The pace and urgency of our work needs to be maintained in order to capitalise quickly and decisively on this moment that history has given to us," he said.
Mr Powell spoke after discussions with Mr Sharon and Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
He then began meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who has been trying to negotiate a cease-fire with Hamas.
Mr Powell said he was "anxious to speak to Prime Minister Abbas about efforts they are making to bring violence under control, to end violence, not just through the means of having a cease-fire, but going beyond that ... to end violence and the capacity for violence".
Mr Abbas has said he will not launch a crackdown for fear of triggering a civil war.
After meeting with Powell, Mr Abbas demanded Israel take steps to ease restrictions on Palestinians, stop settlement building and "change itself from an enemy into a partner".
"The logic of confrontation cannot match the logic of peace," he said.
Mr Powell said he and Mr Abbas spoke mainly about security arrangements. Powell said he again stressed that Palestinian attacks must end. "Violence and terror is not the way to build a state," he said.
Mr Powell did not say how far he wants the Palestinians to go in a crackdown on militants including Hamas, whom he singled out as an "enemy of peace."
The Islamic militant group has killed hundreds of Israelis in recent years and has been trying to scuttle peace efforts, including the latest, the so-called "road map" to Palestinian statehood by 2005.
"We must make sure that all international pressure possible is brought to bear on these organisations, so that they know they will not succeed, they will not prevail, they will be dealt with," Mr Powell said, referring to the Palestinian militias.
Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi responded angrily, calling Mr Powell a "big liar".
"This is a statement that reflects and proves that he is a little slave to the Zionists and to his master Sharon, that he is the real enemy of peace and justice in the world," he said.
Mr Sharon said no progress will be made on the road map as long as attacks continue.
He said Palestinians must realize that a decisive war on terrorism "is the way to make way and move ahead in a sincere and genuine process".
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