The Israelis may have kept journalists out of Gaza, but their crimes were too despicable to hide from the world

Sky News’ Middle East Correspondent, Dominic Waghorn, recently told the Independent of his frustration at having to cover the Gaza conflict from a distance, spending much of his time standing on a van.

When he wasn't climbing atop his vehicle, he and his crew regularly joined "a circus of news crews more than 100 strong" at the one or two places where they were allowed to film live that had a view of Gaza. One vantage point - a mound a mile or two outside the northernmost tip of Gaza - was nicknamed the "Hill of Shame". All the while, a constant parade of Israeli experts and officials were on hand to spin the way they wanted foreign journalists to view the war.

"The Israeli government operated the most draconian press controls in the history of modern warfare during its offensive on Gaza," said Waghorn. With a security fence encircling Gaza, neighbouring areas designated closed military areas, and military police detaining any journalists who flouted the rules, he admitted that Israel was able to enforce its ban with relative ease. That's not to say that Waghorn and his crew didn't try to get better footage. He spoke of sneaking into kibbutzes with his crew and a satellite dish in tow, or of hiding in deserted earthworks, but they were always discovered and moved on.

However, Waghorn argues that Israel's stranglehold on the foreign media has seriously backfired. Brave journalists and cameramen in the employ of news agencies, who were already in Gaza before 'Operation Cast Lead' laid waste to the city, were able to film the consequences of the Israeli bombardment and get the story out anyway. The extraordinary risks these journalists took allowed the world to see the horrors perpetrated against the Palestinian people by a ruthless and seemingly remorseless Israel.

Furthermore, Waghorn claims that Israel's attitude ultimately became a story, with the country being compared to the likes of China, Zimbabwe and Burma in the way it blocked efforts to report the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. With those kinds of comparisons, it's safe to say that Israel has presided over a disastrous effort to control its own PR. Although, Israeli president Shimon Peres has previously said that Israel is "not in the business of public relations or improving our image." Which is just as well, because Israel is widely viewed as a brutal and ruthless aggressor, run by war criminals who should all mothball their passports.

One other thing that Dominic Waghorn mentioned in his Independent article was how, on the weekends, "Israeli war tourists – there is no other way to describe them – joined the scene, cheering the large explosions in the distance." You can hear the twisted views of some of these despicable people in the video embedded above, which is a superb compilation of clips, telling the horrific story of the Gaza massacre. The part that stands out for me is an interview with former Israeli Air Force Captain, Yonotan Shapira. "What's your assessment of what Israel is doing in Gaza," asks the BBC news anchor. "I can answer you with two words," replies Shapira, "war crime."