Press frets on Israel killing policy

Israel's threat to eliminate more prominent Palestinian figures after the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin hits the headlines in Israel and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday.

The no-holds barred approach concerns most Israeli papers, while commentators on both sides worry about the radicalisation of the conflict.

"The targets have been marked," Israel's Ma'ariv announces, while Ha'aretz reports an Israeli warning that even the leaders of the Palestinian National Authority are "not immune".

An Ha'aretz editorial condemns the assassination policy as "wrongheaded".

'Change for the worse'

"Sheikh Yassin was not a 'ticking bomb'," the paper argues. "The cabinet decision could yet go down as a seriously negative change of direction in the history of the conflict".

The period of restraint is over Hatzofe - Israel

Yediot Aharonot goes further, chastising the government for failing to consult the people over the change of tack, and the decision to target top officials, after recent peace overtures.

"With its silence and obscure statements the government humiliates its citizens and pushes them into a fatalistic mood", it says.

Other Israeli commentators worry about revenge.

A Ma'ariv commentary fears the emergence of what it describes an "Islamic massacre coalition" posing a threat to the West in general, warning that the day "they use the atom or anthrax to liquidate a Western city is not far off".

'Illogical'

A Yediot Aharonot commentator says Israelis should be wary about being dragged into "an illogical desire for revenge", where taking an eye of the enemy "will cost us two".

The right-wing Hatzofe is unhappy for another reason, that the attack on Yassin failed to eliminate more Hamas leaders. But it is reassured that "the period of restraint is over".

"It would have been preferable to wait for another opportunity that would have enabled the liquidation of a large number of active Hamas leaders together with Sheikh Yassin," a commentator argues.

Everyone now feels targeted Al-Quds - Palestinian

The Palestinian paper Al-Quds is fearful that top officials are now on Israel's "hit list". The paper says the announcement is "dangerous" and has turned the conflict into a "struggle for destiny". "What Israel sows, Israel will harvest", it concludes.

Palestinian fears

Palestinian papers are also concerned about an increasing move towards extremism.

"How can a moderate leadership emerge when the people are being pushed towards radicalism?" a commentator in Al-Ayyam asks.

"Everyone now feels targeted," Al-Quds says, adding that this feeling "pushes the Palestinian forces towards more violence as a way of self-defence".

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah believes Israel has upped the ante so that both sides are now "full of hatred".

"This is an invitation for both peoples to fight in the old Roman way - to the death," it says.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.