What stands behind the new Palestinian war against Israel?

For the past two days, on an hourly basis, the attacks on Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza and the attacks on Israeli Jews by Israeli Arabs grow worse. What on Sunday was a story limited to Arab violence against Jews and Israeli police in three main focal points in Jerusalem, as well as a few dozen rocket launches against southern Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza, had by Tuesday night been transformed into a full-on war.

By Wednesday, Hamas had launched more than 1,000 rockets, mortars and missiles at southern and central Israel—including 137 launched toward the south in just a five-minute span on Tuesday, and a hundred rockets lobbed toward central Israel in just over an hour on Tuesday night. By midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, three Israeli women had been killed by rocket attacks that struck their homes. Schools were closed throughout southern and central Israel, and millions of Israelis spent Tuesday night huddled in bomb shelters.