The recent attack in Nice, together with the numerous instances of jihadist bloodshed in the previous weeks, suggests terrorists now feel a need to outdo each other with ever more horrifying acts of violence. Max Boot explains, while cautioning against succumbing to hysteria.

Unfortunately, the more people that terrorists kill, the more the public becomes desensitized to the killing—especially in countries such as Iraq that have witnessed so much carnage in recent years. As a result, terrorists have to kill even more in the future—or kill in more gruesome ways, as Islamic State (IS) does with televised beheadings and burnings—to achieve the shock factor they seek.

This should make us very concerned about the future. IS has already used chemical weapons. If it, or another terrorist group, can get its hands on other weapons of mass destruction—biological or nuclear—it will surely use them with no compunctions. All restraints about mass murder are being abandoned.

That should not make us in the West abandon all of our own restraints. We cannot give in to the voices of hysteria. . . . Yes, most of today’s terrorists are Muslims—but so are most of the victims of terrorist attacks.

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.