Not many in the west know this, but Hamas was hoping to get Egypt involved in a war with Israel. Egypt ofcourse rejected Hamas' tactic.
About the media issue there are two things:
Firstly Israel may not be trying to hide the situation in Gaza (which is know is not pleasant) but conversely they may want to prevent an exaggeration of events been feed to the world. Secondly, whether you trust Israel's actions over the media or not - the fact is its best not get more people, especially western journalist caught in the line of fire - whether from Israel or Hamas. Having say a canadian or british journalist dead over there is the last thing Israel needs.
