One way to look at this is that Assad is working through his proxies in Hamas and Hizbullah to take the pressure off Syria by putting the spotlight back on Israel via terror attacks intended to force Israel to retaliate against Gaza. Make Gaza look poor and defenseless and posture Israel as the aggressor, while it is merely defending itself from terror attacks.

Hamas, Hizbullah, and other terror groups call Damascus home. They have access to Assad, and their actions need to be seen as an extension of Assad’s foreign policy.