James Miller
Photo: AFP
Cameraman’s family sues Israel
IDF unit killed British cameraman James Miller two years in Gaza; family suing for two million pounds
TEL AVIV - The family of British cameraman James Miller filed on Monday in the Tel Aviv District Court a lawsuit against the Defense Ministry.
The cameraman was killed by IDF fire two years ago in Rafah; the family is now asking for two million British pounds in compensation.
British Photographer
By Hanan Greenberg
Military Advocate General appeals acquittal of officer involved in shooting of British photographer in 2003; southern command head expected to hear re-trial
According to the family, the State of Israel and its agents did not take reasonable steps to identify Miller, who was holding a white flag, before shooting him.
The fatal shooting took place on May 2, 2003. James Miller, 34, had accompanied British and Palestinian journalists to a neighborhood in a Palestinian refugee camp in Rafah.
IDF forces operating in the area
An IDF force under the command of Captain H., who cannot be identified for security reasons, was also in the area at the time, hunting for arms smugglers’ tunnels, and a firefight between soldiers and armed Palestinians broke out.
At 10:35 p.m., two shots were fired, and ten minutes later Miller was discovered wounded by the IDF. He was evacuated to the nearby Tarmit army post, but he died before a helicopter could reach him.
The British government demanded a full investigation into the incident.
Brig. Gen. Avi Mandelblit, the IDF’s Judge Advocate General, decided 10 days ago to appeal the acquittal of the officer involved in the killing of the British cameraman.
The deputy company commander in the Bedouin Desert Battalion who was brought up on disciplinary charges was cleared of illegal use of weaponry. Now Mandelblit wants him retried by a general, most likely the head of the Southern Command.
