Sure. Wars' aims usually aren't irrational. Both sides seem to be somewhat flippant about collateral damage. But Hamas and, to a lesser degree, to my knowledge, Hezbollah stand out for explicitly and proudly targeting Israeli civilians.
> why I think you can't really compare it to operations against ISIL or Taliban, whom have a far less legitimate complaints
They're all couched in the language of expelling foreign imperialists.
> conflict would be non-existent on the scale that it exists today if not for the settlement policy
Plenty of Iran's regional allies oppose Israel's right to exist. The formation of Israel is a can of worms. Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran's positions would be strengthened--I think--if they tempered their demands to e.g. Israel returning to its original borders.