That depends on what you consider "this whole thing" to be. For Palestinian civilians, "this whole thing" started when Israel geared up for war against them. Yes, Israel publicly declared war against Hamas, but Israeli soldiers are killing Palestinian civilians ... with air strikes, and bullets. Thus far, about 4,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers, with about 1,000 being women and about 1,500 being children (under 18), and some of the deaths being due to air strikes on civilian targets containing sheltering Palestinians. This particular "this whole thing" was initiated by Israel, regardless of whether or not it was "in response" to something else.
That was in a different "this whole thing."
You are totally correct. However, rampant war crimes against defenseless civilian populations is HATE, and is evil, immoral, illegal and never justified. Israel has no green light to commit war crimes.
I would defend my country without allowing the military to commit atrocities with impunity. Had I been in Israel's position, I would not have taken the Hitler path of rallying the home population to violence and HATE with racist vitriol against "Palestinians" and then unleashed the military to treat Palestinian civilians as though they were just going to be eradicated anyway once "this whole thing" is over.
Defending the home country = good
War Crimes = bad/unacceptable