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Alert

Reuters cameraman killed, his assistant seriously injured in Gaza Strip by Israeli missile

(RSF/IFEX) - Fadel Shanaa, a Palestinian cameraman working for the British news agency Reuters, was killed on 16 April 2008 by a rocket fired during an Israeli military incursion into the Gaza Strip. His assistant Wafa Barbakh was seriously injured.

"We offer our condolences to Fadel Shanaa's family and friends," Reporters Without Borders said. "His death serves as a reminder that the Gaza Strip, the theatre of violence clashes between the Israel Defence Forces and Palestinian armed groups, is still one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists."

The press freedom organisation added: "We call on the Israeli authorities to quickly investigate the circumstances that led to the Reuters cameraman's death."

Aged 25, Shanaa was the first journalist to be killed by the Israeli military since British independent filmmaker James Miller in May 2003.

Shanaa and Barbakh, who were filming an incursion by Israeli tanks near the Al-Barij refugee camp, were using a vehicle that was clearly marked with the word "Press" so that they would be identifiable as journalists. It was hit by an Israeli missile that presumably missed its intended target. Seriously injured, they were taken to Al-Aqsa hospital where Shanaa died.