The soldier-turned U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower once said that when he couldn’t solve problems, he made them bigger, so he could.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to have taken the advice to heart. Unable after almost a year of war to deliver on his pledge to simultaneously rescue hostages in Gaza and eliminate Hamas, he has expanded the fight to take on the group’s allies Hezbollah and Iran. And it’s working for him.

With confirmation on Tuesday of the death of Hezbollah’s missile force chief Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, Israel has now killed at least three of the organization’s top commanders, together with many of their senior officers. Hundreds of other fighters were killed or wounded by booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies, severely damaging its communications. An unknown number of rocket launchers and missiles have been destroyed in the most intensive Israeli aerial bombardment since its 2006 invasion. Make no mistake, Hezbollah is being very badly damaged.