It's an old New York Times tradition to wait tactfully until after the event to tell its readers, elliptically, what was really going on:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/world/middleeast/19assess.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
> The caution is at least in part because Hamas wants to keep ruling in
> Gaza, not return to its previous role as a pure resistance movement.
> Therefore, Israeli officials say, an offensive that caused average
> people to suffer put pressure on Hamas in real and specific ways.
>
> “Hamas is the dominant organization in Gaza,” a top military official
> said in a briefing last week that was given on condition of anonymity.
> “They are the regime and feel very connected to the people. They do
> not want to lose that connection to the people.”