Jim, most of those Palestinian deaths occurred during the Gaza incursion.
Israel only, reluctantly, embarked on that, having forced out all its settlers and withdrawn.
The incursion was solely in response the the Gazan missile offensive.
So who was to blame?

The heavy civilian casualties were only incurred because Hamas, illegally, placed military facilities in civilian areas and chose not to evacuate them.
So who was to blame?

Israel was careful to act within the law by issuing warnings and taking all possible steps to minimise civilian deaths.
(Don, I deplored their use of WP smoke in a civilian area and stated it could have been illegal.)