You're throwing "criminal" around without, I suspect, understanding the laws of warfare. Blowing enemy operatives isn't criminal (even if some civilians get hurt - within reason; here's the ratio of militants to civilians hurt is virtually unheard of, in a positive way). Bombing militants from above, whether by airplane or drone isn't criminal, and nothing in the laws of warfare claims you need to let the enemy an opportunity to strike back.
There is no comprehensive information yet on the ratio of civilians to militants maimed by this attack, and any claims otherwise are propaganda. If an enemy had exploded small remote controlled bombs in American supermarkets and homes there is no question we would characterize it as a terrorist attack.
And my question stands, if this is legitimate warfare, why wouldn't Israel admit it carried out the attack? US does not hide that they eliminated Bin Laden. The answer is pretty obvious here.
Because that provides international legitimacy for retaliation by Hezbollah, even though everyone knows who did what. Same as the assassination of Ismail Hanyeh in Tehran.
