Now that the fighting between Hamas and Israel has stopped for the time being, reporters will be in Gaza in droves. Their purpose, naturally, will be to validate the expense of having sat around Israel and Egypt for three weeks repeating the same old stories which they heard from their Palestinian pals inside Gaza.

That’s understandable since they had not been permitted into Gaza. Their entry had been forbidden for a good reason. They would have been in danger and worse still, they would have been bloody nuisances. The last thing that Israel needed were some dead reporters and their safety could not be guaranteed in a war zone.

So now we can expect a free-for-all with unsubstantiated stories of horrendous crimes being committed by the Israelis.

And who will relate these crimes? The Gazans, of course. Will the reports be unbiased? Will they be investigated seriously? I don’t think so but that’s not what matters here, apparently.

What actually matters is sensationalism. The good old scoop. Photo opportunities and ridiculous claims made by people whose sole ambition is to demonize Israel.

For example, let’s study the report of a four year old girl in hospital in Egypt after Israeli soldiers allegedly shot at her outside her house in Gaza.

This is how the story goes according to her grandmother. The IDF came to their home and asked the women and children to leave. This is quite acceptable since the home was obviously housing Hamas militants and their weapons. The women went outside while the men stayed inside. The grandmother says that the IDF shot at her and her grandchildren, killing one and wounding the other.

At this point one would have to ask what can the IDF gain from shooting at women and children? After all, it is accepted IDF procedure to make sure that civilians, and particularly women and children, would not be hurt. The only people who would benefit from the killing of women and children would be Hamas who use them as human shields or fodder and, of course, for publicity. Let’s face it, they want to appear as victims.

The little girl’s father was found rummaging around the rubble of his home, cell phone in his hand. Why was he not by his daughter’s side? What was he doing with a bunch of men? Why did he repeat the same story word for word? Even the reporter commented on that. It is known among police circles that when the same story is told word for word, it has usually been rehearsed.

Surely the most likely scenario is as follows. The IDF arrived at a known Hamas stronghold. They knew that there were women and children there because of Palestinian information. So they asked that women and children leave the premises at which point the Hamas militants inside, including daddy, shot at the Israelis and the Israelis shot back.

As we all know, Islamic fanatics are prepared and even keen to sacrifice their own children for the cause of destroying Israel. That’s why they have so many of them. 56% of Gazans are children! These Islamists would have most to gain by killing their own children in a battle while it would be of no advantage to Israel to shoot at Gazan children. In fact, it would be a disadvantage and goes against the ethical code of Israelis whose only reason for fighting is to protect the lives of their own families from a daily barrage of rockets aimed at civilians.

So now we will be flooded by a plethora of stories told to hungry reporters prepared to swallow anything for the sake of a scoop. Truth will fly out the window. But then it usually does when what counts is sensationalism and pictures on the front page.