Sheik Yassin killed

It is the continued denial of basic human rights to the Palestinian population together with the increasing brutality of the occupation that is the principal cause of terrorism that Israel suffers, and the extra-judicial killing of the wheelchair-bound Sheik Yassin as he left a mosque at daybreak will tragically only escalate the conflict.

But Israeli PM Ariel Sharon knows this. He knew that the killing of Sheik Yassin -- apart from the moral repugnance of the act itself -- would precipitate massive retaliation by the Palestinians and mortally damage the possibility of long-term peace between the two sides. What conclusion can one come to other than to suppose that this was his intention?

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Palestinian public opinion is split between those who favour a two-state solution with a return to the pre-1967 borders, and those, like Hamas, who want a single Palestinian state within the pre-1948 borders. However, prior to Monday's killing, there was always realistic hope that Hamas and the other like-minded Palestinians would be convinced to accept a two-state solution and live in harmony side by side with Israel.

Now we fear that that hope has been extinguished.

Hamas has vowed revenge against Israel and, we fear, will now never be reconciled to a two-state solution. Indeed, the killing of Sheik Yassin, who was known for his moderation within Hamas, can only be expected to further radicalise even the more moderate of the Palestinian people. As a Hamas spokesman put it, "Sharon has opened the gates of hell."

Sharon has signaled with unmistakable clarity that he does not wish to live in peace with the Palestinian people. He does not want a two-state solution. He wants all-out war between the two sides that will only end when one of them is annihilated. That's the war he wants, and now, with the killing of Sheik Yassin, that's the war he will get. But let us not forget who it was who precipitated the tragedy that is about to break out in the Middle East.