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Many of the posters reflexively defend Israeli actions and equate any criticism of said actions with support for Hamas and its ideology but they are missing the point.
The point is that Israel has the option of using carrots in addition to sticks to de-escalate the conflict and de-legitimize Hamas and its tactics. Instead of doing that Israel wields a big stick (restriction on movement, blockade, etc...) and an even bigger stick (aerial bombardment, military operations). This pushes the population into the arms of Hamas and allows them burnish to their credentials as resisters. Gary Kamiya thinks these are unintended consequences that Israel should avoid. I believe that Gary is wrong on that and that this policy is deliberate. Think about it! If you were Israel would you rather face a Ghandi-like character or some fundamentalist villain straight out of central casting that is foaming at the mouth about how he's going to exact terrible revenge and destroy your state even though he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of achieving either goal?
Israel likes to pretend that any group attacking it is the second coming of the Nazi party and therefore it has no choice but to use maximum force while conveniently ignoring the fact that what made the Nazis so dangerous was that they had control of the formidable German army and the equally formidable German industrial machine. Take a look at Gaza and the West Bank and see how that analogy breaks down. They can't even deal with their sewage...
Just to put things in perspective. If Israel is so concerned about the 20 people that were killed by the Qassam home-made firecrackers over the last 8 years then they should start bombing careless and speeding motorists and anybody who lives near them because they account for roughly 8,000 deaths per year in Israel.
