The report may look substantial, but there is little substance there.

Jerusalem Post

"If a cease-fire is the prerequisite for any sort of progress, why, there's no reason to hurry.

"Much water will pass under the bridge before any serious discussion on halting settlement activity takes place," it writes, "and the Americans have accepted most of Israel's demands."

'Little substance'

The Jerusalem Post sees the report as "candy floss".

"It may look substantial, but there is little substance there," the paper says.

"The problem with the Mitchell/Powell formulation is that the claim that there is no linkage between the proposed settlement freeze and the cease-fire is disingenuous.

Al Ahram: Washington may set the entire region ablaze

"It is disingenuous because neither Mitchell nor Powell clearly paired a settlement freeze with the confidence-building measures expected of the Palestinians."

Former Likud MP Moshe Arens writes in Ha'aretz that "the bottom line of the Mitchell Report is that Israel should cease all settlement activity and the upshot of the report is that pressure should be applied to Israel".

"No wonder the PA embraced the report without reservations," Mr Arens writes. "It seems well on the way to having attained its aim of improving its position through the use of violence."

The Jerusalem Post agrees: "The fundamental challenge is not to devise a clever formula that the Palestinians can claim is a reward for their sacrifices and Israel can claim is not."

"The challenge is how to decisively punish the Palestinian resort to violence to deter its repetition."

Sharon doomed

In Egypt, Al Ahram predicted an early debacle for Mr Sharon.

The Sharon government does not seek a settlement, but a death certificate for peace in the Middle East.

Al Akhbar

The Sharon government's determination to pursue what the paper calls its "anti-peace, aggressive policies" and the Palestinians' resistance to that policy will soon lead to its downfall, the Egyptian paper says.

With every passing day, the Sharon government's credibility on the domestic front is being eroded, and it is increasingly isolated at the international level.

Al Akhbar charges that Mr Sharon is not serious about peace.

The Sharon government "does not seek a settlement, but a death certificate for peace in the Middle East", it writes. A certificate that would usher in a dark era in which only a hardline government like that of Sharon could thrive.

Al Ahram warns that it is time for Washington to become more involved if the Mitchell report's recommendations are to be implemented.

Egypt understands the Jewish lobby's objection to America exerting pressure on Israel," it says.

'No time to lose'

But now it is incumbent on America to restore balance to the situation in the Middle East which, if not addressed promptly and fairly. could well result in "anarchy and chaos."

There is "no time to lose" because Washington would be blamed for failing to act and refusing to curb Israeli foolishness.

Washington could be made responsible for "blowing up the peace process, and for setting the entire region ablaze," Al Ahram warns.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.