Extremists must stop marketing their terrorist acts in the name of Palestine, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday, condemning the murder of four French Jews at a school in Toulouse.

French Interior Minister Gueant earlier Wednesday said the gunman wanted revenge "for the Palestinian children and he also wanted to attack the French army because of its foreign intervention."

"Extremists must stop pretending to stand up for the rights of Palestinian children who only ask for a decent life," AFP quoted Fayyad as saying.

In a joint statement, the PLO, the PA and Palestinian missions to France and UNESCO condemned the attack, according to AFP. "All racist crimes are attacks on humanity in general and on the republic in particular," the statement said.

Meanwhile, about 300 police, some in bullet-proof body armor, cordoned off an area surrounding an apartment in a Toulouse neighborhood, where the 24-year-old gunman, named as Muhammad Merah, was holed up. Shots were heard in the early hours of the morning, and police said three officers had been slightly wounded.