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Hamas Risk-Taking Fuels Gaza Escalation
(i24News) Yaakov Lappin - An increasingly emboldened appetite for risk-taking and a belief that Israel is too busy elsewhere has led Hamas to initiate a mass rocket assault on Israel. The purpose of the current Israeli air campaign in Gaza is to counter Hamas' concept. The first stage of Israel's response involves the demolition of a growing number of strategic Hamas assets that are also symbolic of its rule in Gaza. Hizbullah and Iran are closely watching Gaza. If Israel fails to restore a basic level of deterrence in Gaza, the lessons drawn by Israel's more powerful adversaries could embolden their own appetite to take risks against Israel. The writer is an associate researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.