The Sept. 8 editorial "The Hamas murders," on the drive-by attacks against Israeli settlers in the West Bank by Hamas, was exceptionally unfair to the Palestinian Authority. Demanding that the authority "fight terrorism," the editorial ignored the fact that the shootings occurred in an area under full Israeli security control.

It also ignored the passionate condemnations of the attacks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and, more important, the fact that the Palestinian Authority quickly found the car that was used in the attacks and on Tuesday announced that six men had been arrested in direct connection with the shootings.

Readers of the editorial could be forgiven for being surprised to learn about what the Palestinian Authority has done in response to the attacks.

Hussein Ibish, Washington