No insofar as "at any cost" was probably a poor choice of words brought on by the heat of the moment and discussion...
Yes insofar as I think they DO need to be destroyed/removed from power for any hope of a lasting peace.
If it comes to a *4th* Israeli/Hamas war, then at that point I would refer back to my reasoning with the late SYnapse, wherein I stated that I'd rather an end to the conflict, even with an unfortunate death rate, rather than a continuance that sees that death rate continue to climb and climb into 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, etc. wars, until it would surpass the "one-time cost" of a Hamas-ending operation (which WOULD be devastating in terms of the structural and humanitarian toll--that's a mighty huge evil, but I'd argue it's one that's surpassed by the evil and loss of fighting this war to infinity.)
So, while I would concede "at any cost" was a bad choice of words on my part--mea culpa--that's more for the connotation than the stance itself, that is, I remain convinced that Hamas must be either destroyed forcibly or otherwise removed from power for any realistic shot at peace in the region to take place.
That's not to say that's the *only* change of power that needs to happen--Israel *does* need a better leader than Netanyahu, one more open to peace--but it *is* nevertheless one that must happen, and so I still stand 100% against those who see Hamas as a being part of a long-term solution, or defend Hamas' prolongation of this war.