The Guardian view on Israel and Hezbollah: another ominous threshold crossed | Editorial

For his part, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, stated that Israel did not desire an all-out conflict, having acted pre-emptively to destroy around 40 rocket sites. The absence of civilian deaths on either side points to a desire to calibrate levels of escalation while keeping options open. Iran, which has yet to retaliate after the assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is also using the language of restraint while guaranteeing that a response will come.