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Israel assassinated Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi on Saturday, April 17, marking a violent turn for the worse in the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Rantisi's car was hit by missiles just outside his home.

Israel-Palestinian violence has escalated within the past few weeks, spurred on by the assassination of previous Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin on March 22. It has also been encouraged to continue by President Bush's change of U.S. foreign policy through an endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "unilateral disengagement": a reversal of the former "peace process."

Sharon met with Bush last Wednesday. Sharon sought support for a new plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip while retaining settlements in the West Bank. This development follows Israel's insistence upon assassinating leaders of terrorist groups despite international criticism.

Israeli and Palestinian remarks were typical of the strained relations. Israel declared the attacks part of an ongoing process to protect itself against terror, and Palestinians called the attacks unnecessary acts of state-sponsored terror.

Following the assassination, a surge of protesters filled the streets of Gaza City, calling for counter-attacks against Israel. Hamas leader Haniya proclaimed, "all of us will be martyrs."

He continued, "Israel will regret this. Revenge is coming."

In response, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled, said "as long as the Palestinian Authority does not lift a finger and fight terrorism, Israel will continue to have to do so itself," Reuters reported.

Only a few hours earlier, a Palestinian suicide bomber attacked the Erez industrial zone, killing an Israeli border officer and wounding three others.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie called Rantisi's assassination a direct consequence of Bush's recent endorsement of Sharon.

Critics of the Bush administration argue that Israel's true border is that of pre-1967, and continue by contesting that only a negotiation between Israel and Palestine can settle the matter. Critics therefore are quick to call Bush's approval of Sharon's "unilateral disengagement" a step in the wrong direction, to say the least.

The attacks came at a dangerous point in U.S.-Arab relations. Already strained by the escalating violence in Iraq and the War on Terror, Israel's continued attacks and Palestinian backlashes may be the tip of the iceberg for what is to come.

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