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Shana's vehicle after the attack
Photo: AP
Photographer Fadal Shana
Photo: Reuters

Reuters demands IDF inquiry into cameraman's death

London-based news agency calls for immediate investigation into death of Gaza photographer employed by company amidst day of fierce clashes between Israeli troops, Palestinian gunmen. Army expresses sorrow for incident but says journalists knowingly put their lives at risk when covering combat zones

A Reuters cameraman was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday while filming tank movements, Palestinian medical officials said.

 

Cameramen who rushed to the scene said they saw the Reuters jeep on fire, and 23-year-old Fadal Shana's body lying next to the jeep, alongside other casualties. They said Shana's jeep was marked as ''press'' and that the cameraman was wearing an identifying flak jacket.

 

Video from Shana's camera showed a tank opening fire. Two seconds after the shot raises dust around its gun, the tape goes blank - seemingly at the moment Shana was hit.


Remains of cameraman's car on Gaza road (Photo: AP)

 

Reuters soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, 25, sustained a shrapnel wound and was being treated in a Gaza hospital.

 

The army confirmed a helicopter had targeted a group of gunmen in Bureij but declined immediate comment on the circumstances surrounding Shana's death. It expressed sorrow but also said journalists were putting their lives at risk in areas of combat.

 

IDF spokeswoman, Major Avital Leibovich, said there had been clashes in the region throughout the day after the three Israeli troops had been killed overnight in the same area.

 

A military official said: "We wish to express sorrow for the death of the Palestinian cameraman... It should be emphasized that the area in which the cameraman was hurt is an area in which ongoing fighting against armed, extreme and dangerous terrorist organizations occurs on a daily basis."

 

"The presence of media, photographers and other uninvolved individuals in areas of warfare is extremely dangerous and poses a threat to their lives."

  

Abbas expresses condolences

Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger called for an investigation: "This tragic incident shows the risks journalists take every day to report the news. All governments and organizations have a responsibility to take the utmost care to protect professionals trying to do their jobs," he said.

 

"Our thoughts are with his family. We request an immediate investigation into the incident by the Israeli defense forces."

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was visiting Moscow, telephoned Reuters in Gaza to

express his condolences. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman said: "In our operations we try to be as surgical as possible and make every effort not to see innocent people caught up in the fighting."

 

Dozens of Palestinian journalists went to the hospital where Shana was pronounced dead to pay their respects. In all, four journalists have been killed covering the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

 

AP and Reuters contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.17.08, 00:43
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