I've been watching the news summaries here in Israel and the government's decision to stop is largely unpopular. It's true that from a foreign policy point of view, Israel was seen as  a rational player with a justified reason. But here 1 million citizens have been under sporadic rocket attack for the last 12 years. Now with the more advanced Fajr 5 in Hamas Possession 3.5 million Israelis are within range plus a majority of the country's economy is driven from jobs within this area. 

Israelis want to see this threat eliminated and they don't care what the world thinks. A whole generation of children in the south is growing up with Post Tramatic Stress Disorder.

But that's not even the main point. The main point is that while 30 to 40 thousand troops were massed on the border. Over a million citizens were forced to remain for extended period of time in bomb shelters. So in fact in order to prevent the loss of life of Soldiers or a mishap on the battle field that would have unfortunately killed Palestinian civilians, Israel was willing to risk the lives of over a  millions of its citizens with the hope that they were adequately protected and direct hits would be limited. The citizens in fact were put in the front line and asked to face fire so the soldiers wouldn't have to. This is against all military doctrine and many Israelis feel a rather absurd policy.