http://www.phillyimc.org/en/protest-against-january-2009-attack-gaza#comment-31890

A commenter named Elihu suggests that the elimination of all of the citizens of Gaza is precisely what Israel seeks. No, I don't know how many people Elihu represents, but following his logic, the current war in Gaza will either resemble the ultimately-unsuccessful assault on Hezbollah/Lebanon in 2006 or it will be a "Carthaginian peace," with there being no state left there.
The essential problem that Israel faces is that Israel is a new presence in the Mideast, formed by pushing out people who were living there beforehand. That means that they're very closely surrounded by resentful people. Most Arabs have come to accept that Israel isn't going anywhere and that it's there to stay. The problem then becomes how to settle the people who were there beforehand. I don't have a quick or easy answer for that.
Yes, we are fully aware that Hamas has been violent and we don't see that as acceptable. See the last paragraph.
We're aware that Hamas has been under sanctions and attacks (See the sentence just above this) since gaining power and that those have a great deal to do with Gaza's economic performance. It's difficult to say that Gaza has been mismanaged as they haven't been able to operate without intense economic pressure.
The Palestinian people very strongly support Hamas. Hamas is not some foreign presence in their midst.
Why did Hamas arise in th first place? Didn't they come to be because Palestinians were unhappy under Israeli rule? Sorry, but simply getting rid of Hamas doesn't solve anything.