On Wednesday, the IDF chief-of-staff Herzi Halevi and President Isaac Herzog separately toured the country’s northern border, evidently to send a message to Hizballah. The Iran-backed organization has been constructing tents just inside Israeli territory and engaging in other provocative activities in violation of existing cease-fire agreements. To Meir Ben-Shabbat, the situation resembles that on the eve of the 2006 Second Lebanon War, which began when Hizballah operatives crossed the border and kidnapped two IDF soldiers:

It’s hard not to see the similarities between what happened back then, almost exactly seventeen years ago, and the unfolding reality today, especially in light of the footage showing the balaclava-wearing terrorists moving freely so close to the border and observing Israel without even an inkling of fear. Although security officials have stressed that these operatives were never in breach of the border and posed no danger, this is hardly reassuring. Moreover, such statements only reinforce the feeling that the deterrent effect has been disrupted in Hizballah’s favor.

The spate of provocations by Hizballah attests to Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s ever-increasing confidence. Not only has he ratcheted up his public threats, but he has also escalated the situation along the border by trying to push the envelope with Israel. While it is far from certain that he seeks a flare-up, what is abundantly clear is that Nasrallah has been less cautious in trying to avoid it.

Hizballah’s conduct along the northern border serves its goal of optimizing its operational position should hostilities break out, with a particular emphasis on preparing a ground incursion into Israel. The way Israel has so far responded to its provocations has only encouraged it to continue, and even ratchet up, [these activities]. In view of this reality, Israel has no choice but to act in a way that would make Nasrallah conquer his impulses.

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.