The ever-expanding Middle East war

IF YOU drew a diagram of who is shooting at whom in the Middle East, it would look increasingly like a bowl of spaghetti. What began in October as a war between Israel and Hamas has now drawn in militants from four other Arab states. In addition Iran, Israel and Jordan all bombed Syria this month. Iran also unexpectedly bombed Pakistan, which must have wondered how it got dragged into this mess.Now nearing its fifth month, the war in Gaza seems far from an end—despite a growing sense in Israel that the fighting has got bogged down. The Israeli army has yet to find the top leaders of Hamas, or most of the Israeli hostages that the group is still holding. Israeli security officials worry that bargaining will undermine the military gains they have made.