We'll have to disagree on whether Israel is a colonizer (as that term is used in the modern political context) with respect to the land it occupies. What do you make of the West Bank settlements?

You may be right that destroying HAMAS was not Israel's only option after 10/7. But even if destroying HAMAS was the only option, Israel may perhaps be faulted for creating the situation in which that was the case. I don't have enough facts to opine on that.