Mid-East papers write off truce

The regional press sees little prospect for peace in the wake of the killing by Israeli forces of Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab.

Arabic papers suggest the Israeli action was not so much a revenge attack for Tuesday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, as part of a plan to sabotage the ceasefire.

In Israel, some commentators question the wisdom of Israel's "targeted killing" of Palestinian militants. But others point the finger of blame firmly at Hamas.

The truce has not collapsed because of the Jerusalem bombing, nor did it collapse after the killing of Hamas leader Abu Shanab. The truce collapsed much earlier, due to the fact that, since the truce was announced, the Israelis have persisted in provoking the Palestinians.

Al-Jazeera - Saudi Arabia

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It is no secret that Israel was striving to strike at peace...The only option left to Palestinians is to retaliate against Israel's violations which are aimed at alienating Palestinians and forcing them out of the road map.

Al-Safir - Lebanon

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All this violence and bloodshed between Palestinians and Israelis does not come out of the blue. Israel bears the responsibility because it was the first to violate the truce in pursuing its assassination policy against the Palestinians.

Al-Ahram - Egypt

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We think that the first and most important factor is goodwill. If Israel had goodwill and really intended to achieve peace, it would end its revenge policy against the Palestinians... Repression will only bring about endless violence and more bloodshed.

Al-Akhbar - Egypt

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The operation that killed martyr Ismail Abu Shanab will not weaken the Hamas movement and will not succeed in putting pressure on its leaders. It will rather make them more radical in aspiring to even more martyrdom.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi - London

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The killing of Ismail Abu Shanab is a revenge operation, which will only add to the fire rather than extinguishing it, leading to more violence which cannot be controlled, putting everyone on a path to destruction with no horizon.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat - London

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Despite the "success" achieved by the Israeli army in the killing of Abu Shanab, the Israeli peace movement has summarised the situation with wisdom by saying: The killing of Abu Shanab will not save a single Israeli.

Al-Ra'y - Jordan

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With the increasing danger in the Palestinian arena, it is now important for Arab intervention to contain the deteriorating situation.

Al-Dustur - Jordan

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The situation obliges the Israeli Government to help Palestinians who want to fight terror achieve their goal... Actions like the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab could make it difficult for the Palestianian Government and eliminate the small chance that exists to revive the peace process.

Ha'aretz editorial - Israel

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Does it really suffice to pin all the responsibility for the crisis on gangs of Palestinian terrorists and a frail Mahmud Abbas[Palestinian prime minister], while absolving Israel's prime minister? Two years of national tailspin suffice to tell Sharon he ought to go.

Ha'aretz commentary - Israel

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The security establishment decided to return to the policy adopted a week before the truce came into force: pursuit of Hamas heads... Now there is a need to convince the Americans of the importance of this root canal treatment of Hamas and Islamic Jihad

Yedi'ot Aharonot - Israel

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So if the truce has departed this world, and also if the Israeli reaction to the Jerusalem terrorist attack will now bring about renewed violence, in the end everything will return to square one.

Ma'ariv - Israel

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In Palestine, Hamas and other terrorist groups enjoy wide support... In Palestine, one increasingly gets the sense that terrorist movements and democratic ones blend.

Jerusalem Post - Israel

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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.