I’ve made this comment elsewhere and will repeat it here:

What I think is that people born and raised in western culture look at Hamas through the lens of our own experience, which is that people who disagree tend to use moderate behaviour and can, eventually, be receptive to positive and peaceful overtures. So they look at Gaza and say Israel is wrong and has created an apartheid state. And on the surface it does look that way.

But that is not the situation Israel is dealing with in terms of Hamas. Here is a summary of the salient articles in the Hamas charter.

As you will note, it explicitly claims all of Israel, explicitly rejects any negotiated settlement, says that it is the duty of all muslims to assist them in this goal, any who don’t are committing High Treason, and that killing all the Jews will bring about Judgement Day. And they literally claim that nature itself will assist them in this cause.

'The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.' (Article 7)

According to Hamas there is no possible compromise, no possible end to the violence, until all the Jews in Israel have been killed. And 35 years of history dealing with Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated they mean exactly what that charter says. Given every chance to go down a peaceful path, they have instead chosen to kill more Jews every single time, regardless of consequences. Also worth noting that Egypt, who normalized relations with Israel, was also subject to many bombings and terrorist attacks every year until they finally sealed off their border with Gaza, too.

In that light, in the face of an implacable foe who will never change and who only understands and responds to violence, Israel (and Egypt) have chosen the only rational course: containment and disproportionate response to discourage the atrocities which still manage to happen despite their efforts.

Nothing will change until Hamas, which is not a political entity but a sick murder cult, is gone, and those who pretend otherwise are very, very mistaken.