New Delhi: India today (Apr 19, 2004) termed as "unjustified and unacceptable" the killing of Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantisi in an Israeli attack and warned that such actions could only lead to further destabilisation of the already fragile situation in the Middle East region and result in further escalation of the cycle of violence.

"The targeted killing of Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantisi is unjustified and unacceptable and cannot be condoned under any circumstances," an official spokesman said in a statement in New Delhi.

"Such actions can only lead to further destabilisation of the already fragile situation in the region and result in further escalation of the cycle of violence and counter-violence," he said.

"We believe that the need of the hour is restraint to enable peace negotiations to restart at the earliest," he stressed.

Rantisi was killed in an Israeli helicopter missile strike on Saturday (Apr 17, 2004), hundred metres within the place where the movement's spiritual leader Sheikh Yassin was assassinated in a similar fashion less than a month ago.

Rantisi is Hamas' top leader in Gaza and one of the most hardline members of the militant movement who rejects all compromise with Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish State.