In violation of a two-year ceasefire that had mostly been enforced, Hamas launched (and took credit for) dozens of mortars from Gaza into southern Israel Saturday morning, injuring two civilians. Another rocket from Gaza—this one not like the mortars fired Saturday, and not yet claimed by any group—landed in the coastal Israeli town of Ashkelon Sunday. Israel responded Saturday with tanks and helicopters, reportedly injuring five and killing two. Israel also moved to lodge a formal complaint with the United Nations, which has lately become a battleground for Palestinian statehood.

The New York Times accurately described the attack as “unusually intense,” and Hamas’s taking credit for it as “uncommon.” Hamas asserted it was a response to an Israeli airstrike Wednesday that killed two of its members. The technical term for this explanation is bullshit: Israel struck Wednesday in response to a rocket fired earlier; Hamas knows that whenever it fires into Israel, Israel fires back. So what prompted it?

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