Many fear Israel and Hezbollah are heading for all-out war – but here’s why that’s far from inevitable | Lina Khatib

Despite escalations, a full-blown conflict would be bad for both. But all this brinkmanship is diverting attention from Palestine

Every conflict that generates public attention triggers speculation about what might happen next. Some offer doom scenarios; others use scaremongering as a diplomatic tactic in the hope that presenting policymakers in the international community with worst-case scenarios will spur those leaders into action.

After the latest escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, there is a tendency to assume that such a war is imminent. Resist that argument: escalation does not automatically mean all-out war is inevitable.

Lina Khatib is director of the Soas Middle East Institute and associate fellow at the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House