Goals
That one is justified in responding when provoked, does not mean one should respond. As Brzezinski once grumbled, world politics is not a kindergarten. Military action is not undertaken out of mere justification, but in the interest of achieving certain strategic gains.
I mean, yeah, sure. And, I think Israel actually is trying to achieve certain strategic gains. From a piece in the LA Times coauthored by Yossi Klein Halevi and Michael B. Oren:
If Israel successfully overthrows Hamas in Gaza, it would strengthen anti-Iranian forces throughout the Mideast and signal the region that Iranian momentum can be reversed. The Israeli military operation could begin the process that topples a terrorist regime that seized power in the Gaza Stripin 2007 and has fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells into Israeli neighborhoods.
And whether or not Hamas is ultimately overthrown, Israel can achieve substantial goals. The first is an absolute cease-fire. Previous cease-fires allowed Hamas to launch two or three rockets a week into Israel and to smuggle weapons into Gaza through tunnels. To obtain a cease-fire now, the international community should recognize Israel’s right to respond to any aggression over its international border and monitor the closure of Hamas’ weapons-smuggling tunnels.
Now, we can argue all day (or all week!) about whether or not these bombings and the subsequent ground invasion will achieve any or all of those goals. But I think we can all agree on the following facts: no sovereign nation should be forced to withstand constant bombardment/missile attacks from a neighbor on its border that wants to see it destroyed and its people pushed into the sea, and that Israel isn’t attacking Hamas just for kicks.
Again, I ask the critics of Israel how they think the United States would/should respond if we were in their shoes. To argue that we’d respond any differently is disingenuous (see: Afghanistan after 9/11).