Angry Palestinians are threatening to take to the streets on Wednesday to protest Israel's seizure of the leader of a radical group  from a West Bank jail. Israeli security forces were bracing for the worst after Ahmed Saadat's Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamist militant group Hamas promised retaliation.

The raid dealt another blow to the authority of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was already shaken by the victory of Hamas in a Jan. 25 election. Hamas have refused to renounce violence and remains dedicated to Israel's destruction. The European Union criticized Israel's assault on the prison but said it might also cut aid to the Palestinians if attacks on EU property and kidnappings of Westerners did not stop.

Israeli forces grabbed Saadat after tanks and bulldozers tore apart Jericho jail on Tuesday. In response, Palestinians kidnapped several foreigners and attacked western facilities in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to Reuters, two French nationals and a South Korean are still being held. The latest flare-up is some of the heaviest violence the territories have seen since Hamas won the Palestinian elections. Israel claims Saadat ordered the 2001 killing of an Israeli cabinet minister. He was sent to Jericho jail in 2002 under an internationally-brokered deal, but after there were suggestions he might be released, Israel decided to move in once US and British monitors had left the prison. The 10-hour raid is likely to raise interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's profile with voters ahead of a March 28 general election. And that's exactly what bothers some German commentators about the whole episode.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung said it was to be expected that Israel would eventually lose patience over the lax imprisonment of the men thought to be involved in the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. Saadat was able to receive as many visitors as he liked and the prisoners were able to use mobile phones to coordinate their ongoing violent campaign against Israel. "But it's doubtful the storming of the jail will quench the thirst for revenge or help calm the region," comments the paper. "Moreover, the military action happened so close before the Israeli parliamentary election that it has to be interpreted as PR for the acting leader of the government, Ehud Olmert." The paper said the media coverage of the incident will end up acting like an "election advertisement" for the uncharismatic politician, who hopes to burnish his hard-liner credentials to voters.

The right-wing daily Die Welt agrees with that assessment. "Olmert must first present himself as a hawk in order to not be labeled as a lightweight by his challenger Benjamin Netanyahu," comments the paper. "That is the reason the Israeli security forces stormed the jail in Jericho. Further action could follow." Die Welt doesn’t expect the situation in the region to improve until April after the Israelis have a new government and Hamas has formed one for the Palestinian Authority. "Then the Europeans could once again come into play. Their goal has to be to teach Hamas to be a partner." The paper suggests one way forward could be the stepwise use of financial aid, with the EU setting conditions that need to be fulfilled before the Palestinians would receive the funds.

The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sees a new quality in the retaliation attacks sparked by the Israeli raid. The paper blames the escalating violence in the Middle East on the complete standstill in the region's politics caused by the departure of incapacitated Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "But it’s also that the Americans are so tied up in Afghanistan -- and particularly in Iraq. That precludes, or at very least hampers, them from getting energetically involved in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians," writes the paper. "One can only hope that after the Israeli election, efforts will be made to awaken and strengthen the forces for peace in the region. At the moment the situation is bleak."