Protective Edge” is the sixth major Israeli offensive against Gaza in eight years. Each time the story is the same—a dystopic Groundhog Day. Something triggers an escalation in the continuous low-level conflict. Militants in Gaza launch more rockets, and Israel drops more bombs or sends in ground troops. Eventually enough people die for popular pressure to make the militant groups stop launching rockets, and it all subsides. Until the next time.
No matter whether you think Israel is being barbaric or just acting in self-defense, it’s clear that this pattern isn’t working, for either side. But the proximate cause of this particular escalation—the killing last month of three Israeli teens and the revenge killing of a Palestinian one—showed more clearly than ever that neither side’s leadership really has any control over the course of events. Once radicals start a provocation, the anger and politics of the region take on their own momentum. This, in a nutshell, is why the peace talks the US half-heartedly promotes keep going nowhere.
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