TEHRAN Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's assassination policy claimed four more victims yesterday when the car they were in was blown up in the Gaza Strip.

Almost 85 Palestinian activists and many innocent bystanders have been killed by Israeli troops since the approval of an assassination policy by the Israeli Parliament.

On Monday, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) stated that the four most recent victims were members of the DFLP's armed wing and blamed Israel for their deaths.

"The Israeli occupation forces committed a crime of assassination against four members of the brigade of Palestinian National Resistance

[the armed wing of the DFLP] ."

"These continuing crimes of assassination and the terrorist policy of Sharon... shows the Israeli government is going ahead with its bloody plan and does not care about diplomatic efforts," it said, vowing revenge for the deaths.

A Palestinian security official said two Israeli helicopters were flying over the area where the car was blown up, and one of them had possibly fired a missile.

In the meantime, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Sunday night that if the U.S. did not remain committed to its obligations in the Middle East, the chances of reestablishing dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians were nil.

Moussa accused Israel of holding Yasser Arafat "prisoner," and the Arab League, which is planning to hold a summit in Beirut at the end of March, is ready to show it is unified and offer the Palestinians a clear message of support.

"There is no active diplomacy in the peace process," he told AFP in an interview in New York, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.

The current violence in Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories has spiraled so dangerously out of control that right now marks one of the tensest periods in the 50-year standoff, he said.

Arafat has been held at his residence in Ramallah since December and is completely surrounded by Israeli tanks, Moussa said. Therefore, a "mobilization to end the siege" around him is necessary he added, comparing the Palestinian leader to Nelson Mandela, who spent 17 years in a South African prison for his opposition to apartheid.

"Israel wants to weaken Arafat, hoping this will lead to the total disintegration of the Palestinian Administration.

"The current government in Israel has reached the wrong conclusion; they believe that they are on top of the world. They think they can impose any settlement and will always be protected."

The Arab League summit in Beirut, the first to be held in Lebanon in nearly 50 years, will help illustrate that while "it is only natural to have different points of views... there is no such thing as Arab disharmony."