Perhaps true on the German side as well. The Crete invasion cost the German paratroopers so many casualties that Hitler (unwisely) prohibited any further airborne actions.
Also, it is true that the Cretan civilians were pretty brutal on the Germans when they first landed on the island, so you’d have to think the reprisals would be a foregone conclusion.
You’ve hit upon something that would make a good discussion in a philosophy class.
WW2 is filled with examples of civilians striking back at their Axis occupiers. Civilians are not supposed to do that. And neither are the Axis occupiers supposed to execute civilians who had nothing to do with those strikes.
So who has the dirty hands here? I suppose that would be determined by the victors. It is they who convene the courts after the war is over.