What puzzles me

Pictured below is a herd of sheep and goats passing through an olive orchard situated between the triangle of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Givat Shaul (a settlement). Its also the spot where I (stopped because of sirens and) saw the air stream of rockets seconds or minutes after they flew: 

Right now, I'm resting in the comfort of my parents home. I'm very thankful for this respite and refuge. But the way of the world right now saddens me, and I'm puzzled by the things that got us here. In particular, the acts of war taking place in and around Gaza and Israel worries me.

Having spent most of this year in the Middle East, I'm feeling extra sensitive to the goings-on there right now. In particular, I'm sensitive to the different parties resorting war machines and killing people.

Two weeks ago, during my trips around Israel and the West Bank saying goodbye to friends, I saw the tanks and bulldozers headed south towards Gaza. Friends were called up from reserve to report to duty. I saw the air stream of rockets fired only minutes before; I saw the rockets themselves, and the Iron Dome; I felt the boom of rockets not intercepted; I watched the momentum to where we are now (two weeks into a war).

The transformation that is not visible is what's gone on in the minds of so-called leadership. What I imagine is that, somewhere between birth and now, many of the people operating the war machines on all sides came to justify the taking of a human life. So, my question is: at what point does someone decide they can kill someone else? Is there an age, or an experience?

I hate that leadership is willing to kill people - sacrificing lives on both ends of the barrel. And yet the implicit understanding today is that national leadership prioritizes their citizens above those of others. I don't understand why (citizens and) leaders cannot value all lives equally. Why can we not see what Kofi Annan sees: that "what begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends up with a calamity for all nations."

What do y'all think?