The editors of the New York Sun consider Hizballah’s recent strike on the Golan Heights, which caused the most Israeli casualties since October 7, and America’s response:

The attack on Majdal Shams throws into sharp relief the error of the Biden administration’s headlong hunt for a ceasefire, which would amount to a reprieve for Hamas and Hizballah. An American official tells Axios that “What happened today could be the trigger we have been worried about and tried to avoid for ten months.” A better worry would have been how to help Israel achieve victory over its foes.

The White House calls the attack “horrific,” but more telling will be whether it backs Israel’s response. If the past is prelude, President Biden—and Vice-President Harris—will seek to restrain the IDF in favor of Hizballah. Ms. Harris’s harsh words for Israel last week suggest that she has little enough appetite for one conflict, let alone two. Mr. Biden has sought to suppress a war, but Hizballah has been emboldened. That is often the price of appeasement.

Indeed, it seems that the president’s one-word warning to Hizballah in October—“Don’t”—has not been taken to heart.

Yesterday, the Iranian foreign minister flew to Geneva to meet with European diplomats. President Trump, meanwhile, indicated that cease-fire negotiations might soon begin with Iran, which would presumably involve Tehran agreeing to make concessions regarding its nuclear program, while Washington pressures Israel to halt its military activities. According to Israeli media, Iran already began putting out feelers to the U.S. earlier this week. Aviram Bellaishe considers the purpose of these overtures:

The regime’s request to return to negotiations stems from the principle of deception and delay that has guided it for decades. Iran wants to extricate itself from a situation of total destruction of its nuclear facilities. It understands that to save the nuclear program, it must stop at a point that would allow it to return to it in the shortest possible time. So long as the negotiation process leads to halting strikes on its military capabilities and preventing the destruction of the nuclear program, and enables the transfer of enriched uranium to a safe location, it can simultaneously create the two tracks in which it specializes—a false facade of negotiations alongside a hidden nuclear race.