ISRAEL ON RED ALERT

Israel expelled several thousand Palestinian workers to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip today and tightened travel restrictions on Palestinians, in an attempt to prevent revenge terrorist attacks after last week's assassination of Fathi Shakaki, the leader of the Islamic Jihad. "The fact that the Israelis are adopting such tough measures indicates that there is extremely serious concern of a terrorist response on Israel," reports TIME's Jamil Hamad from the West Bank. "I fear, however, that the Israelis are underestimating the effect of the restrictions themselves on Palestinians. These measures may do more harm than good: they are building anger and frustration among the Palestinians, which could lead to violence and doom the peace process. Palestinians are asking themselves, 'What good is a peace if I cannot earn a living?'" The killing of Shakaki in Malta last Thursday was detailed in two Israeli newspapers today. Shakaki was shot to death in front of his hotel after he returned from a shopping trip. No suspect is in custody. The Iranian-backed Jihad blamed Israel for the assassination and has vowed retaliation.