On Sunday, the U.S. and Britain launched airstrikes, for the second day in a row, against the Houthis, the Iran-backed Yemeni group that has been harassing international shipping in the Red Sea. America also attacked Iran-linked targets in Syria and Iraq on Friday. Perhaps more importantly, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan promised that there will be “additional action” against Tehran’s regional proxies in response to the killing of three American soldiers in Jordan. Sullivan declined to make any guarantees that the U.S. won’t attack inside Iran.

Reuel Marc Gerecht has argued that only retaliation inside their borders will deter Iranian leaders, which would mean that this weekend’s display of force won’t achieve its aim. Ron Ben-Yishai, by contrast, takes it more seriously:

Some 85 targets were struck by fighter jets and cruise missiles, far more than the ten or so attacks after previous and even more deadly attacks on U.S. forces. The targets chosen were strategic. This was not a response to the source of fire or direct retaliation against the militias who launched the killer UAVs at the American base [in Jordan]. These were strikes targeting the logistical and operational center of the Shiite militias which Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had established for them on the border between Syria and Iraq.

Until now, [U.S.] attacks against the Houthis were considered warnings, but on Saturday they were more extensive and lasted for a longer period of time, again as an indication, and a message to Iran, that America means business. . . . What is becoming apparent is that the U.S. decided to destroy systematically the military network of Iran’s proxies as well as that of the IRGC, used to attack Israel and the West.

What the U.S. and the UK along with their allies are doing by attacking the IRGC and their proxies is akin to what Israel is doing to Hizballah across its northern border.

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.