Hamas Escalates

What began as a traditional tit-for-tat exchange of retaliations has continued to metastasize into something far more dangerous. Israel's targeted killing of a Hamas military leader was one escalation; but Hamas itself raised the ante with yesterday's rocket attack against Tel Aviv, and today's firing of a rocket at Jerusalem marks a provocative move that not only escalates but will infuriate Israelis, and may alarm some Arabs as well since Hamas' rockets are too inaccurate to choose one Jerusalem neighborhood over another.

At this stage an Israeli ground operation against Gaza is starting to seem more and more likely. And that will speed up the escalator even more.,