A war between the two parties has already begun, and at this point I don't see any way to avoid a full-blown regional war that will result in tremendous death and destruction.  Many had been hoping that cooler heads would prevail in 2024, but instead this new year has started with a series of very alarming escalations…

In the last week alone, an Israeli airstrike has killed a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, Hezbollah struck a sensitive Israeli base with rockets and Israel killed a senior Hamas militant with an airstrike in Beirut.

Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region.

In the decades-old standoff pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, there are fears that any party could trigger a wider war if only to avoid appearing weak. A U.S. airstrike killed an Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad last week, and the U.S. Navy recently traded fire with Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.