Over the past two weeks, the IDF has eliminated seven terrorists in three security incidents on the Israel-Gaza border. Among other things, this indicated that IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi had shifted the military to a more aggressive – "lethal," as he put it – operational mode, and that's a good thing.
Hamas is trying to escalate the situation near the border mostly because the weekly riot campaign launched in March 2018 has exhausted itself, as has low-intensity arson terrorism. Still, Judea and Samaria are seeing a surge in stabbing and ramming attacks, so the faster the IDF and civilians at these scenes are at neutralizing the assailants, the faster this wave of violence will be quelled.
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The rocket fire that has been disturbing the Gaza vicinity communities again is sporadic and seems to only echo the other acts of violence. This is a troubling trend, but it is still a far cry from a situation that mandated the IDF launch a full-scale military operation in the coastal enclave; especially once it knows that such an operation will see rocket fire on large parts of Israel.
One cannot overstate Iran's part in instigating the Gaza-based terrorist groups in their attempts to provoke Israel.
Iran would like nothing better than to see Israel fight on two fronts – opposite Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north – as it will distract from its problems with the United States in the Persian Gulf.
Domestically, it is interesting to see how eager some politicians are to go to battle in Gaza. It is also curious to see how waging a war has become a talking point for campaign rhetoric.
Given the statements made over the past few days, it is safe to say that Blue and White, where three of the party's co-leaders are former IDF chiefs of staff, is the "let's go to war in Gaza" party.
As for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he has cemented a diplomatic fact: with the Palestinian national movement splintered between the Hamas-controlled Strip and the Fatah-ruled West Bank, a reliable Palestinian leadership with which to pursue the two-state solution no longer exists.
It would be a shame to waste this achievement when the IDF is so successful in its defensive operations.
One must remember that if the Israeli military has a clandestine way to move from defense to offense, as it has done in Syria, it will do so if necessary. At this time, the situation on the Israel-Gaza border is not reminiscent of the days prior to 2008's Operation Cast Lead, nor of the period that led to Operation Protective Edge in 2014.
There is no reason for us to rush into another war in Gaza.
