Israeli press reflects return of fear

More than 50 people were injured in the attack

Israel's Hebrew and English-language newspapers are dominated by coverage of the Palestinian suicide bomb attack on a pool hall in Rishon Letzion, which left 16 dead.

"Terror returns" is the stark headline in Yedioth Ahronoth, followed by a report on Tuesday night's bloody events which quotes a witness as saying: "I saw people flying out through the windows."

Our fist is once again clenched for the blows we will be forced to deal those who want to kill us

Maariv

Haaretz says the attack was the largest terror incident since Israel ended its military offensive in the West Bank designed to destroy the "terrorist infrastructure".

It adds: "Security sources said they had presumed Palestinians would resume terror activities, but did not expect a major attack so soon."

A sense of weary inevitability pervades the editorial comment of Maariv.

"It had to happen sooner or later," it says. "After we began to think we could get used to days and nights without fear, of walking freely in the streets, of happy meetings in cafes and restaurants and other places, terror struck again...

"Fear has returned again, caution has returned, the fearful glances at anyone entering a crowded place have returned, worry about family members who've gone out, the sense of uncertainty and insecurity, have returned."

The day began on a promising note for the Bush administration... But it ended with officials anxiously awaiting Sharon's expected military response

Jerusalem Post

But it defiantly adds: "Along with all of these, the sense of endurance has also returned, the determined stand not to surrender to violence and not to retreat before terror, our fist is once again clenched for the blows we will be forced to deal those who want to kill us."

The Jerusalem Post focuses heavily on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to cut short his visit to the United States and fly home for an emergency meeting of his security cabinet.

"The day began on a promising note for the Bush administration, with the announcement that CIA Director George Tenet would return to the region to help reconstitute the Palestinian security services as a unified, effective terror-fighting entity," the paper says.

"But it ended with officials anxiously awaiting Sharon's expected military response."