There is not much choice. They can’t insist on fighting when the Hamas will tell everyone that they really wanted to stop.
What is the goal with staying on to fight? They are trying to get the Hamas to realize that they have to stop shelling Israel. They are not going to re-annex Gaza.
Perhaps at one point there was a choice, but now it’s past that point. They missed many opportunities. When the first rocket was fired it was understood that Israel would do something drastic to them, but they didn’t. England’s devastation in WWII was being hit by rockets. However, by ignoring it they turned rocketing into a form of disobedience. Now, when they react to being shelled it has to come with explanations.
They probably had the moral standing to re-inhabit Gush Katif when the first rockets came. Now, that would be ‘undermining the peace’, ‘disproportionate’, ‘colonization’, and a host of other great titles bestowed upon us by those who perpetrated these very acts in a real way. In a big way.