An Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement is looking more like a will-o'-the-wisp as a cycle of retaliatory violence continues unabated. Last week's assassination by the Israeli military of the new Hamas leader, Mr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi -- less than a month after the killing of the Hamas founder and spiritual leader, Mr. Sheik Ahmed Yassin -- has added oil to the fire. The radical Islamic group is vowing to avenge their deaths.

Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, is held responsible for numerous Palestinian suicide bombings. Committed to Israel's destruction, it has consistently opposed negotiations with the Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a confirmed hardliner, is equally determined to decimate the group. But his policy of "targeted assassinations" is clearly, and dangerously, going over the top.

Mr. Sharon, trying to set his own terms of peace, appears to be taking a high-stakes gamble. He seems to believe that use of force is the only way to achieve peace. But, as events in Iraq demonstrate, a strategy that relies heavily on military might cannot break the chain of hatred and violence. Mr. Sharon's game plan will likely fail unless it wins support, even if reluctant, from a majority of Palestinians.