Benajmin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to meet on September 14 for the next stage of Middle East peace negotiations and then at regular points through the next year.

A senior Hamas official has said that the terror organisation will not take the blame if the latest round of Middle East peace talks collapses – despite having perpetrated two attacks on Israeli civilians in two days.

The murder of four residents of the Beit Hagai settlement on the dark, winding road from Hebron was almost expected - as was the settlers' reaction.

Just two days earlier, the IDF Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, had met the commanders of the Judea and Samaria Division and warned them to be on the look-out for attempts to disrupt the opening of the direct peace talks in Washington.

President Barack Obama will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in a few months' time if the peace process continues, according to White House officials.

Mr Obama has been criticised by Americans and Israelis for not addressing both sides of the conflict directly during the first 18 months of his presidency. The president visited the region early in his term for a much-publicised speech in Cairo, but pointedly left Israel off his itinerary.

A second terror attack by Hamas has left two Israeli civilians injured, one seriously.

The roadside shooting near the Rimonim junction in the West Bank followed the killing of four people on Tuesday by a Hamas gunman, and came as direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians began in Washington.

William Hague has condemned the killings of four Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists on the eve of a new round of Middle East peace negotiations.

Hamas’ military wing has claimed responsibility for the murder of four Israeli civilians, including a woman believed to be pregnant.

But American and Israeli officials have urged that Israel and the Palestinians do not let the terror attack derail the direct peace negotiations set to begin in Washington tomorrow.

"We have seen this tawdry and transparent script played out endlessly in the past 20 years.

"Israel promises to negotiate in good faith, delivers nothing, scarcely even hints that it might deliver something in the future."