IT seems that the Israeli government is playing yet again into the hands of not only the extremists within its own ranks but also is playing into the hands of organisations like Hamas. In an ''assassination'' attempt on Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi they created more ''martyrs''. In reality innocent civilians were killed by trigger-happy soldiers. Six missiles were fired into the area. The first missile missed its target. Afterwards five more were fired killing a 24-year-old woman and an eight-year-old girl. A Palestinian medical relief clinic was also hit as was a centre for the disabled.

One wonders (since this fits a certain pattern) if Ariel Sharon is deliberately trying to tear up the road map for peace by provoking a response from Palestinian terrorist groups. This would allow him to placate extremists in his own ranks and at the same time not only retain seized land but also seize some more. And before anybody complains that those who oppose such extra-judicial killings (which are contrary to a whole raft of international conventions) are giving succour to terrorists, consider this: Israel claims to be the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East, the only nation that upholds the rule of law.

Surely Israel should be taking the legal and moral high-ground here if it were truly a democratic nation that respected law and human rights. Surely it would be better to capture these people and bring them to trial rather than killing them while at the same time killing innocent Palestinian civilians. We don't expect any better from the terrorists who don't care about who they kill. We do have the right to expect better from a nation that claims to respect law and order. We need to call the government of Ariel Sharon to account.

Rev John Nugent,

5 Charles Street, Annan.