I've been learning a lot about the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict, and the more I learn the more sympathetic I am to Israel's position. Without context it's easy to sympathize with the underdog and see them as the bad guys, but it seems like they've been showing a tremendous amount of restraint compared to how they have been treated historically by their repeatedly defeated foe. Some of the things Israel is being criticized for, their opponents did to them far worse when given the opportunity. In regards to attacks on civilian structures, suffering of civilians, and accusations of ethnic cleansing, for example:
In 1948, Jordan, while fighting for Palestinian Arabs as part of the Arab League, annexed Jerusalem and the West Bank. Once in control they ethnically cleansed the area of Jews, destroyed almost all their structures, and denied Jews Jordanian citizenship while granting it to Arab Palestinians.
"For the first time in 1,000 years not a single Jew remains in the Jewish Quarter. Not a single building remains intact. This makes the Jews' return here impossible"
"The operations of calculated destruction were set in motion. I Knew that the Jewish Quarter was densely populated with Jewish populations who caused their fighters a good deal of interference and difficulty. I embarked, therefore on shelling of the quarter with mortars creating harassment and destruction. Only for days after our entry into Jerusalem, the Jewish Quarter become their graveyard. Death and destruction reigned over it. As the down of May 28th was about to break, the Jewish Quarter emerged in convulsive cloud-a cloud of death and agony" -Abdullah el Tell, a commander of the Arab Legion
Israel has been playing by more modern, humane, restrained rules of engagement and has been rewarded for it with constant guerilla attacks, while the world criticizes them for punching down at a conquered still-hostile enemy that once punched down at them.