NBC reports on the strategy employed by Israel in its response to a week of attacks from Hamas in Gaza. Instead of attacking Gaza’s infrastructure in general, Israel has selected its targets more precisely to humble Hamas:

The only way Israel will gain from this war will be if they can separate Hamas from its support base in Gaza. Attacking Gaza on a wide scale would bind the people to Hamas in the long and short run, but if they can eliminate the power structures of Hamas without too much collateral damage, they could weaken Hamas in the long run. I think everyone recognizes that an attack in the short run will still generate feelings of unity and support for Hamas, which means that Israel is taking the longer vision with this.

This also creates a financial problem for Hamas. Islamic University, its governing installations, and its other offices will all have to be rebuilt in the middle of a siege brought on by Hamas themselves. They need this infrastructure to undergird their power, but if they take resources needed by Gazans to survive to rebuild it, that will make them even more unpopular. With Egypt already blaming Hamas for the war and Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah an available option, Gazans may not stick with Hamas for much longer — or so the Israelis must hope.