That's because they restrain themselves. If they used their full military capability without concern for civilian casualties, they would have razed Gaza to ashes.
Again, Arab world, it's message time: Your survival is directly contingent upon Americans' and Israelis' sense of mercy and deeply-ingrained (especially for the Israelis) aversion to mass slaughter of an enemy population. Keep testing those features; you're playing with fire.
I just noticed that quote. Actually, recent analysis shows that Cast Lead was more effective than originally anticipated.
I mean look, Hamas is now begging to be allowed at the bargaining table. Prior to Cast Lead, that wouldn’t even have been imaginable.