COMFORT ERO (excerpt)There is a grave risk that the war could spread beyond Gaza. Second, strikes by other Iranian-backed groups against US forces in Syria and Iraq could escalate into a war that again pits Iran and the US against each other. Again, neither side appears to want escalation, but significant casualties could change the equation and raise the risk of regional war. The most obvious way to reduce the likelihood of a wider war is to achieve de-escalation in Gaza. Leveling swaths of the Gaza Strip, killing thousands – or even tens of thousands – of innocent Palestinians, and risking regional war will not make Israel safer in the long run.
