Responding to the terrorist attacks last weekend in Egypt, Turkey, Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria—which collectively left some 200 people dead—Steven A. Cook cautions against overanalyzing:

There are compelling explanations as to why people are attracted to extremism. The exhaustive academic literature on terrorism tells us that there are political ends for the violence. The perpetrators [of the Coptic-church bombing in Cairo] want to destabilize Egypt and usher in their Islamist vision of an Islamic state. In Turkey, the goal [of the synchronized bombings in Istanbul] is to undermine the state in the service of Kurdish independence. [But] something else is also at play: the glorification of violence for violence’s sake. If there is any doubt about this, take note of the footage extremists have offered to the world of their bloodshed and mayhem. . . .

Both the Egyptian and Turkish governments have lamentable records on human rights. They have used coercion and violence to establish political control in societies where so much has become contested over the last three to five years. . . . [Yet] the repression-radicalization dynamic, in which people determine that they have no recourse other than taking up arms in the face of repression, only tells part of the story. What did the people praying on a Sunday morning have to do with the Egyptian state’s violence? Nothing. And the people killed in [Istanbul], what did they have to do with [Turkey’s brutal treatment of its Kurds]? Nothing. . . . [O]nly in the minds of people like the Qatar-based Islamist preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who argues that all Israelis are legitimate targets because they all serve in the Israel Defense Forces at one time or another, does that make otherwise innocent people legitimate targets.

The perpetrators of the attacks this weekend in Egypt (no one has yet claimed responsibility) and in Turkey (the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, or TAK, claimed responsibility), murdered people because that is what they do. Full stop. No other explanation needed.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.