Emma - I asked Carole "Do you believe it is Israeli policy to attack civilians"? and you used my question to address the collective punishment argument. You didn't answer that question. Also yes the deputy defense minister words were rather stupid invoking the "Shoah" comparison, but obviously made out of pure frustration at the constant rocked bombardments - putting so much pressure on him from the Israeli public to really do something about it militarily finally to end them, which is still a strong possibility. He was trying to warn Hamas that if this happens many innocent people could get killed in the process because Hamas just won't stop the rockets.
I do believe somehow Israel needs to negotiate with Hamas somehow, but we don't know why the previous cease fire offers weren't accepted - do we? - all we can do is guess and make propaganda out of false accusations that come from our imaginations. The conditions have to be met and the will on both sides.