Eurotopics.net

After the initial shock and mourning for the many victims of the brutal Hamas attack, people are starting to ask questions. How were the terrorists able to take Israel by surprise when its security forces were presumed to be so overwhelmingly superior? Commentators see Israel's polarised political landscape as a major vulnerability.

In several European countries there have been pro-Palestinian demonstrations in reaction to Hamas' attacks on Israel, with participants openly celebrating the operation. At the same time people gathered at rallies to show solidarity with Israel. Commentators discuss the limits and meaning of freedom of expression.

The far-right AfD party made major gains in elections in the German states of Bavaria and Hesse on Sunday. Both the AfD and its youth organisation the Young Alternative for Germany (JA) are listed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as suspected cases of right-wing extremism. The AfD came third after the CSU and the Free Voters party in Bavaria, and second after the CDU in Hesse. Commentators discuss the reasons for the AfD's advance in these states and what it means for the rest of the country.

In the early hours of Saturday the radical Islamic Hamas organisation fired thousands of rockets at Israel and armed Palestinian militants broke through the barriers surrounding the Gaza Strip and entered Israel, shooting and killing hundreds of Israelis in several communities on the border and abducting more than 100 people. According to Israeli sources, Hamas continues to fire missiles, while Israel is now bombing targets in Gaza. Europe's press discusses what should be done and looks at who benefits from the escalation.