I think this goes to the local population aiding and abetting Hamas. Where are Hamas troops drawn from? How often do locals inform on a rocket battery being setup next to their house or inform on a tunnel used to smuggle arms in and so on?
We had this in WWII where it was Total War. Civilians were fair game. They were not completely innocent. They supported the war in myriad ways (growing food, working in factories and whatnot). The civilians enabled the war machine to operate.
I’m not sure where you draw the line but I am not sure one can say the residents of Gaza have nothing to do with what is happening because it’s really just a 1,000 bad guys causing all the fuss and everyone else has no part in it.
And I get how that is all a slippery slope to atrocity.