Yes, I think that's distinction - provoked by the victims or by others. (Israel has used the language of self-defence for its Gaza attacks, I think. I guess Hamas uses the same language for its attacks on the rave/kibbiutzes?

So: - murdering and raping a rave and kibbutzes, because there's no way to successfully attack a genuine military target - murdering a building full of families, because that's the only way to successfully attack a genuine military target. Which is worse? (A variant on a 2021 tweet of mine:)

Yes. A decades long process of well documented oppression, persecution, killing, jailing & occupation of lands tends to provoke an aggressive reaction. And Israel is self-defending by also openly targeting & killing civilians on a large scale (as opposed to the usual drawn out day to day targeting)