A war on a civilian population

"Another key Israeli goal, evident in both the ongoing blockade as well as the brutal military assault of Operation Cast Lead, is to punish the civilian population in the hope of turning them against Hamas. In early 2006, an advisor to Ehud Olmert, the then Israeli prime minister, said that "the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet" in order to pressure the elected Hamas-majority government. In September 2007, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported on the Israeli military's plans "to limit services to the civilian population in Gaza" in order "to compromise the ability of Hamas to govern". It was this logic that shaped Israel's military operations which, in the words of the UN's Goldstone report, were "directed by Israel at the people of Gaza as a whole, in furtherance of an overall policy aimed at punishing the Gaza population"." (thanks Ben)