Hamas has succeeded in putting Israel in a lose-lose situation. They're already feeling the first part of the "lose" with the international backlash over civilian casualties. But if they cease military activities, they still "lose" because they will not have achieved their objective (i.e. the destruction of Hamas). Of course, that is a "lose" because they will never be able to destroy Hamas. Just like we couldn't destroy the VC or the Taliban or al Qaeda. We could kill a lot of them, but the idea survives, and some people will be attracted to those ideas. And, of course, this threatens larger pacts and treaties with nations like SA (which apparently was the impetus for the original attack), further isolating Israel ("lose" again).

Hamas bears a huge amount of the blame, of course. They attacked Israeli civilians and took hostages, and they hide among the civilian population and in/under hospitals. By allowing Israel to rack-up lots of civilian casualties and blown up schools and hospitals, Hamas wins. If Hamas survives (which they will), they win again. Degraded, but Iran will fix that.

I think Netanyahu needs to realize what the US realized in some of our longest conflicts: just pack up and go home.