"IDF soldiers, in regular and reserve military service, gathered in assembly areas and prepared for the ground operation. Their time was used for training and improving their operational capabilities," according to the IDF statement.

But the Israeli efforts were not without a huge cost. An "Iron Dome" missile costs at least $62,000, Israeli officials said. With approximately 500 fired over eight days, the cost of missiles is more than $30 million.

The "Iron Dome" was successful but is not a perfect shield, said one analyst.

"'Iron Dome' does have certain limits to the number of missiles it can engage," said Steve Zaloga, a military weapons expert with the Teal Group.

For all of Israel's declared successes, Hamas takes some lessons and victories from the battle as well. Most importantly, it does not take a lot of missiles to cause chaos.

"It doesn't take more than one or two of these things to land in a major urban center to cause political response, to cause panic and to maybe force Israel's hand into a ground operation," said Dan Goure, a missile defense expert with the Lexington Institute.

Another antagonist in the region, Iran, may see Israel's success as a cautionary sign should it look to Hamas to assist in retaliating if Israel strikes Iran's nuclear program, Goure said.

"Israel may be able to tolerate whatever retaliation Hamas or Hezbollah might do in the event of an attack on Iran. So Iran may have felt a little more vulnerable today than it did a week or two ago," Goure observed.