As Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue, anger in the Arabic press is largely focused on the United States.

Washington is condemned for blocking attempts by the international community to achieve a ceasefire, while the Israeli attacks are seen as having little impact on Hezbollah's ability to fight back.

One commentator sees a call for Muslims to retaliate over Lebanon by al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri as evidence that the group intends to open a front against Israel, while another believes the statement plays into US hands.

IZZ AL-DIN DARWISH IN SYRIA'S TISHRIN

History will remember, and it is merciless, that US President George Bush junior and his political and military aides have directly taken part in the slaughter committed by Israel in Lebanon.

EDITORIAL IN EGYPT'S AL-JUMHURIYAH

The UN Security Council failed yesterday in condemning the deliberate Israeli shelling of UNIFIL forces on the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel because of the blind US bias to all the practices of Israel, even a barbaric crime against a position that raises the UN flag.

MURSI ATA-AL-LAH IN PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS

The war of destruction in Lebanon is similar to the war of destruction in Iraq. No matter what the objective is... the final aim that is shared by both Israel and the US is to work together to redraw the political/geographical map in the region in a way that suits Israel.

NAZIH AL-QASUS IN JORDAN'S AL-DUSTUR

If the US wants a calm Middle East where peace prevails, it should just make Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories and recognise an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital... Even if Israel destroys all of Lebanon, this will not bring it security and tranquillity.

LUBNA HUSSAIN IN SAUDI JEDDA ARAB NEWS

The atrocities being committed in Lebanon once again provide us in the Arab world with a superfluous, all too frequent and unnecessary reminder of the fact that our blood is cheap... While the rest of the world desperately waited for the announcement of a ceasefire that only America had the clout to negotiate, Auntie Condi arrived to play the fiddle to Israel's tune as Lebanon burned in the background.

EDITORIAL IN PALESTINIAN AL-QUDS

Faced with the reality of killing and destruction that take place around the clock... the international community still has the chance, although it is a narrow one, to end the bloodshed in the region, force Israel to stop its aggression and return to the negotiating table.

WALID SHAQIR IN PAN-ARAB AL-HAYAT

Whatever the political outcome of the current open Israeli war on Lebanon... what will remain in the memory of many Arabs is the ability of a group [Hezbollah] to inflict losses on Israel, whether by firing rockets into its towns or fiercely challenging its army on Lebanese territory.

AHMAD DAHBUR IN PALESTINIAN AL-HAYAT AL-JADIDAH

It was not the Rome conference that failed in taking a decision on a ceasefire, but the US aggression carried out by Zionist hands that succeeded in shooting down any decision. However, this is only half the truth. The other and more important half is that the resistance continues and the Zionist enemy is drinking from a bitter cup.

EDITORIAL IN PAN-ARAB AL-QUDS AL-ARABI

Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri knows that the war in Lebanon will last a long time because Israel will not succeed easily in defeating the Islamic resistance. He reckons Lebanon will be transformed into a failed state without a strong central government. This will pave the way for al-Qaeda to move in and open a front against Israel.

HUSAM AYTANI IN LEBANON'S AL-SAFIR

The voices that denounced the statements of Al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri... are right... Such statements by Zawahiri will support US-Israeli claims that the current war on the Lebanese and Palestinians are part of the international war on terrorism represented by Zawahiri and his leader, Osama Bin Laden.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.