But without a proper investigation it's just a matter of rival media spin exercises by people on both sides who might know the facts or might not, and who might for various reasons be telling the truth or not.

If the truth is that numbers of dead are far lower than the initial estimates by the Israelis, then refusing to cooperate with and facilitate an independent investigation is a terrible own goal for Israel.

Some of the conditions laid down for allowing the investigation team in made some sense - but others would have made it completely impossible to carry out an adequate investigation, and it seems must have been added as a way of ensuring that there would not be an independent investigation.

One problem is that other countries consistently refuse to allow that kind of thing to happen when they come under suspicion. Countries like the UK, France, the USA, Russia... It isn't that Israel is being unusually obdurate in this affair, it's just living down to the level set by other countries. For those countries which have signed up to the new standing International Tribunal, such as the first two there, it is at least a step in the right direction in regard to such matters.