“Escalate to deescalate.” That is a key idea in today’s story by Christa Case Bryant and Anna Mulrine Grobe. It is the principle behind Israel’s invasion of Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah. It is the principle behind the devastation in Gaza. 

It is now clearly Israel’s guiding principle post-Oct. 7, mirroring the United States’ reaction to 9/11. Will it make Israel safer? Or will it spawn new cycles of violence? The answer will reverberate globally. Today, we look at Iran’s response, America’s own tough decisions, and whether Israel knows where this new stage of the war is going.