The more the tension rises between Israel and its regional foes Iran and Hezbollah, the more the talk of war becomes louder. This dynamic has been at play for years; as each side gains more power, the greater the public fear of war. Yet the possibility of a real war occurring keeps falling despite all the hot air.

Since Dec. 4, the world has been following Israel’s Operation Northern Shield on its border with Lebanon. The operation, according to Israeli officials, is aimed at uncovering and destroying Hezbollah’s network of tunnels that reach into Israel. Briefing foreign ambassadors Dec. 6, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah seeks to send “entire battalions” into his country — including via the tunnels Israel is now tackling — in order to seize land and to kidnap and kill Israelis.

A few days earlier, on Dec. 3, Netanyahu and the Mossad chief met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels. The Israeli prime minister was reported to have told Pompeo that Israel could take military action if Beirut does not clamp down on Hezbollah, as Israel is concerned that Tehran has begun shipping advanced arms directly to Hezbollah in Lebanon rather than through Syria.

Despite the Israeli rhetoric, Iran and Hezbollah have kept silent over the accusations and the operation. Indeed, only a few days prior to the beginning of Northern Shield, Hezbollah had issued a video showing aerial footage of vital Israeli facilities, including the Ministry of Defense, accompanied with a message in Hebrew reading, “If you dare attack, you will regret it.” The video emerged after it had been reported that there had been a Nov. 29 strike by Israeli planes on positions in Syria thought to be controlled by Iran and Hezbollah. Such a strike would have been the first since mid-September, when Syrian air defenses downed a Russian military plane during an Israeli airstrike, prompting Moscow to provide Syria with its advanced S-300 missile defense system.