One of the options is to add blank space for contents if the page is in editing mode. It won`t make the link empty but it won't show it's description.
<% if (IsInEditingMode)
{ %>
<li>
<%=GlassHtml.RenderLink(icon, x => x.Link, isEditable: true, contents: " ") %>
</li>
<% } else {%>
<li>
<%=GlassHtml.RenderLink(icon, x => x.Link, null, true, string.Empty) %>
</li>
<%}%>
Another option is to write your own glass extension. (For more information on how to do something like this you can see this thread - Glass Mapper RenderLink link description - default text if empty)
Glass.Mapper is open source and you can see how render link actually works here:
https://github.com/mikeedwards83/Glass.Mapper/blob/master/Source/Glass.Mapper.Sc/GlassHtml.cs (The method starts on line 297).
To extend it you will need something like this
public virtual string RenderEmptyLinkInEditing<T>(T model, Expression<Func<T, object>> field, object attributes = null, bool isEditable = false, string contents = null)
{
NameValueCollection attrs = null;
if (attributes is NameValueCollection)
{
attrs = attributes as NameValueCollection;
}
else
{
attrs = Utilities.GetPropertiesCollection(attributes, true);
}
var sb = new StringBuilder();
var writer = new StringWriter(sb);
RenderingResult result = null;
if (IsInEditingMode && isEditable)
{
if (contents.IsNotNullOrEmpty())
{
attrs.Add("haschildren", "true");
}
result = MakeEditable(
field,
null,
model,
attrs,
_context, SitecoreContext.Database, writer);
// if (contents.IsNotNullOrEmpty())
// {
// sb.Append(contents);
// }
}
else
{
result = BeginRenderLink(
field.Compile().Invoke(model) as Fields.Link, attrs, contents, writer
);
}
result.Dispose();
writer.Flush();
writer.Close();
return sb.ToString();
}