The annual Coachella music festival, held in the southern California desert, has since 1999 been one of the most important events in popular music. (Ticket prices start at $599.) This year, a North Irish rap group began its performance by chanting, “Free, free,” to which the crowd knew to respond “Palestine.” After the back-and-forth grew in intensity, the band projected the words “F— Israel. Free Palestine” in giant lettering, to much cheering.

Peter Himmelman, who has spent his career in the music business, comments on this “raucous, euphoric, and deeply disturbing” scene.

First and foremost, these men are professional performers. They know exactly how to grab an audience’s attention. They’re savvy provocateurs who understand what a naive, young, ill-informed crowd wants: tribal affiliation, seduction, powerful basslines, and the optics of morality. . . . They didn’t come to challenge the audience. They came to flatter them. They handed them a chant, a cause, and the Jews—a familiar enemy that crops up in the world’s dark imagination every 70 to 100 years. It had all the elements of a movement, minus the need to think.

The memory of the brutal massacre at the nearly identical Nova music festival was completely erased. The rapes, the torture, the kidnappings—gone. October 7 vanished into the desert air, replaced by an easy-to-chant slogan and a false sense of righteousness.

On Monday night, the IDF struck a group of Hamas operatives near the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, the main city in southern Gaza. The very fact of this attack was reassuring, as it suggested that the release of Edan Alexander didn’t come with restraints on Israeli military activity. Then, yesterday afternoon, Israeli jets carried out another, larger attack on Khan Yunis, hitting a site where it believed Mohammad Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, to be hiding. The IDF has not yet confirmed that he was present. There is some hope that the death of Sinwar—who replaced his older brother Yahya after he was killed last year—could have a debilitating effect on Hamas.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is visiting the Persian Gulf, and it’s unclear how his diplomatic efforts there will affect Israel, its war with Hamas, and Iran. For its part, Jerusalem has committed to resume full-scale operations in Gaza after President Trump returns to the U.S. But, Gabi Simoni and Erez Winner explain, Israel does not have unlimited time to defeat Hamas:

Israel faces persistent security challenges across multiple fronts—Iran, the West Bank, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon—all demanding significant military resources, especially during periods of escalation. . . . Failing to achieve a decisive victory not only prolongs the conflict but also drains national resources and threatens Israel’s ability to obtain its strategic goals.

Only a swift, forceful military campaign can achieve the war’s objectives: securing the hostages’ release, ensuring Israeli citizens’ safety, and preventing future kidnappings. Avoiding such action won’t just prolong the suffering of the hostages and deepen public uncertainty—it will also drain national resources and weaken Israel’s standing in the region and beyond.

We recommend launching an intense military operation in Gaza without delay, with clear, measurable objectives—crippling Hamas’s military and governance capabilities and securing the release of hostages. Such a campaign should combine military pressure with indirect negotiations, maximizing the chances of a successful outcome while minimizing risks.

Crucially, the operation must be closely coordinated with the United States and moderate Arab states to reduce international pressure and preserve the gains of regional alliances.