Some [many, most] who oppose Israel's Gaza move seem to think those who support it are suffering under the delusion that it offers a long term solution to the problems that trouble the region - certainly not the case with me - I don't think a long term solution to etc etc is possible since the main issue for the region needing to be resolved is the dysfunctional, retrograde nature of Islamist governance and culture - until those negatives are addressed the problems plaguing the region will persist. No, the reason I support Israel's Gaza move is that given the bad options to choose from it was the least bad with the most potential upside viz Israel's security needs and since no 'long term' fix is possible all that really matters from Israel's point of view is their short to midterm security needs - invasion was the logical choice given the options.
Now, I do believe it's a bit more long termish than that - yes, I think Israel's main goal is to degrade Hamas' capabilities and infrastructure as much as possible since with Sisi in Egypt shutting down the smuggling Hamas will be hit hard and for a long time by this action - but I also think a secondary goal is hoped for, namely to send a clear message to the idiots calling the shots in the White House and the EU that if they don't get serious about disarming Hamas and addressing in a practical and realistic way the actual problems plaguing the region [which have nothing to do with Israel] then what is happening now will happen again and next time we're re-occupying Gaza - and I think there also may be a message in this to Obama about Iran, which Hamas is a proxy of, ie we're serious about not letting them become a nuclear power and if you're not gonna take care of it we will. Remember, if Israel is actually serious about stepping in to take out Iran's nuke program should Obama fail to do so, Iran will retaliate through Hamas [and of course Hezbollah which is a much harder target for Israel to get at] - that's what all those tunnels Israel is digging up in Gaza are about, waiting for the order from Tehran to attack - and so you see degrading significantly Hamas' capabilities would be an absolutely necessary preparatory step if one plans on going after Iran's nukes - and interestingly enough this would still be the case even if America is the one doing the shooting, which makes Obama/Kerry's reluctance to let Israel finish the job look like they are indeed lying when they say they will not let Iran become a nuclear power and all options are on the table - clearly all options are not on the table if you don't see the logic of letting Israel finish Hamas off.
Now, I do believe it's a bit more long termish than that - yes, I think Israel's main goal is to degrade Hamas' capabilities and infrastructure as much as possible since with Sisi in Egypt shutting down the smuggling Hamas will be hit hard and for a long time by this action - but I also think a secondary goal is hoped for, namely to send a clear message to the idiots calling the shots in the White House and the EU that if they don't get serious about disarming Hamas and addressing in a practical and realistic way the actual problems plaguing the region [which have nothing to do with Israel] then what is happening now will happen again and next time we're re-occupying Gaza - and I think there also may be a message in this to Obama about Iran, which Hamas is a proxy of, ie we're serious about not letting them become a nuclear power and if you're not gonna take care of it we will. Remember, if Israel is actually serious about stepping in to take out Iran's nuke program should Obama fail to do so, Iran will retaliate through Hamas [and of course Hezbollah which is a much harder target for Israel to get at] - that's what all those tunnels Israel is digging up in Gaza are about, waiting for the order from Tehran to attack - and so you see degrading significantly Hamas' capabilities would be an absolutely necessary preparatory step if one plans on going after Iran's nukes - and interestingly enough this would still be the case even if America is the one doing the shooting, which makes Obama/Kerry's reluctance to let Israel finish the job look like they are indeed lying when they say they will not let Iran become a nuclear power and all options are on the table - clearly all options are not on the table if you don't see the logic of letting Israel finish Hamas off.