Last night, Hizballah fired a barrage of rockets into the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmonah, which sits close to the Lebanese border. No one was harmed, but a rocket attack on the same town on Tuesday left two people seriously injured. On Wednesday, a more alarming barrage from Lebanon hit Safed, which lies much further from the border, leaving one dead and eight wounded. In response to that attack, Israel carried out extensive airstrikes on Hizballah positions in Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday, which Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described as an increase of “one level out of ten” over the intensity of previous IDF missions.

Notable also is a speech that Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed terrorist group, delivered on Tuesday, in which he stated that attacks on Israel will only stop “when the shooting stops in Gaza,” and dismissing American and French diplomatic efforts to diffuse the situation. Eyal Zisser and Shaked Sadeh write:

In the 130 days of fighting, the IDF gained control over large parts of Gaza, weakened Hamas’s military power, and is now approaching Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold. This is an uncomfortable reality for Nasrallah, who finds himself under a harsh spotlight in the Arab world, as many accuse him of not doing enough for Gaza. After all, he could have launched an all-out campaign against Israel, [even employing his ground forces].

Nasrallah’s speech was not new or very truthful. . . . Nasrallah also did not tell his listeners about the heavy blows the IDF struck against Hizballah, even though [the organization insists] on reporting the casualties in its ranks almost every evening.

For the first time, the ball is no longer in Nasrallah’s court, but in Israel’s, as it is the one to decide whether it wants to add and intensify its efforts in Gaza and maintain the conflict in Lebanon with a small fire, or perhaps turn its attention to escalation on the northern border as well. Nasrallah knows this and all he can do is try to calm his supporters and try to intimidate the Israelis so they won’t even consider going for a full-scale war against Hizballah.

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.