In the past 24 hours, Israel has carried out decapitation strikes against Hamas & Hezbollah (and likely Iran awhile back.)
Although the response remains to be seen (I suspect lots of bluster; unimpressive action) I think there's a strong argument these actions > total war.

Eliminating leaders who pursue dangerous policies, either via tactical drone strike or raid, is a much better action than invading a country and waging war against civilians.
Think of how different Iraq/ Afghanistan would have been had we taken this course of action post 9/11.

They may have just taken out another one!
This is like Michael Corelone taking out the heads of the Five Families!