Sometimes you just have to kill jihadis until they run rather than shoot:
The Israeli military launched what could be a long-term offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday striking nearly 100 sites in Gaza and mobilizing troops for a possible ground invasion aimed at stopping a heavy barrage of rocket attacks against Israel.
The last time Israel went in to Gaza, during the winter of 2008-2009, Hamas took some damage.
Before that, in 2006, the operation against Hamas spread to and was eclipsed by a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
I may not think much of how well Israel fought that 2006 war, but Hezbollah was hurt.
Hezbollah is pretty heavily engaged in Syria right now defending the Assad regime.
And while Assad needs Hezbollah shock troops, Assad is hardly in a position to intervene on Hezbollah's behalf if Israel does strike Hezbollah.
So I assume Hezbollah's leaders are praying very hard that an Israeli attack on Hamas is localized like 2008 rather than regionalized like 2006.
Assad no doubt wishes the same thing.
UPDATE: Oh, and then there was the air-only November 2012 conflict. I forgot about that one.
That's the one Hamas--if not Assad--probably prefers.
