Reuters Cameraman, Fadhil Shana'a, Killed by Israeli Occupation Forces

Haniya calls for filing a lawsuit against Israel for its crimes against media

[ 17/04/2008 - 08:03 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Ismail Haniya, the premier of the caretaker government, extended his condolences to the family of slain cameraman Fadhil Shana'a and the Reuters news agency, calling on all international institutions concerned with the rights of journalists to hasten to expose Israel's crimes against the media and file a lawsuit against it.

Reuters published the details of the death of its cameraman Shana'a after he was targeted by an Israeli occupation tank projectile Wednesday evening in the central Gaza Strip.

According to Reuters, an Israeli occupation tank fired a shell at Shna'a as he was getting off his car to cover the Israeli invasion and aggression in the Johr Al-Deek area, while his colleague Wafa Abu Mazeed who works as a sound technician for the same news agency survived, but is being treated for shock.

The Palestinian journalist bloc stated that the assassination of Shana'a was premeditated in order to prevent any exposure of the Israeli criminal war against Gaza by media outlets, pointing out that this was not the first time in which Israel targeted media workers where its warplanes and tanks had already targeted them during the last massacre in Gaza and during Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Reuters said Shana'a was not married and enjoyed popularity among the news coverage team in the Gaza Strip which was honored last month by the British Royal Television Society for covering the events in the Palestinian arena.

Reuters Cameraman Fadhil Shana'a Buried

Date: 17 / 04 / 2008 Time: 15:29
Gaza – Ma'an –

There were two coffins in the funeral procession for Reuters cameraman Fadhil Shana'a, one carried his lifeless corpse and the other his camera and his protective vest.

Many tears were shed at the funeral. During his career Shana'a also shed many tears as he documented bereaved mothers and children.

Twenty three-year-old Shana'a always went in pursuit of the truth and the last moments of his life were spent in pursuit of that truth. His dead body was found lying among dead Gazan children targeted by Israeli occupation tanks in the area of Juhor ad Dik in the Gaza Strip. The last shot his camera documented was the artillery shell that killed him. The Israeli authorities said he was killed accidentally.

An eyewitness, journalist Yassir Qadih, said, "Reuters journalist Fadil Shana'a was killed while he was in a jeep which was clearly marked 'Press'."

"There was nobody around us except a group of children who we were going to film. There were no resistance groups in the area" he added.

Television footage showed the jeep, with large signs reading "Press" and "TV" with a gaping hole blown in the driver's side.

Reuter's editor Nidal Al-Mughrabi was working with Shana'a up until he was killed, "The last picture Shana'a shot was a shell and suddenly we lost contact which meant he had been killed."

"The last thing Shana'a filmed was benzene canisters in a gas station in the central Gaza Strip. Then we headed to film victims of the Israeli attacks on Juhor Al-Deek. When Fadhil picked up the camera and got out of the car, an Israeli occupation tank shell ended his life," said Arafat 'Uwda, Shana'a's assistant.

Reuters stated on its web site that “Shana’a was covering events in the Gaza Strip for Reuters on a day of intense violence.” “He had stepped from his car to film an Israeli tank dug in several hundred meters away, when an explosion killed him and two youths passing by. Video from Shana'as camera showed the tank opening fire. Two seconds after the shot raises dust around its gun, the tape goes blank – seemingly at the moment Shana'a was hit,” the statement added.

"My colleague Fadhil Shana'a was the best and most courageous cameraman, and he got on well with everybody. But this is the destiny of every photojournalist who conveys the truth," said Rami 'Ubaid, a photojournalist for Ramatan news agency.

Fatah leader Hazim Abu Shanab, described targeting journalists as a "great crime," affirming that Israel does not recognize the Geneva Conventions. "The world should know the truth, and this is the duty of journalists," he added.

Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said, "The Israeli occupation forces target journalists in order to kill the truth and impose political plans through dismembered limbs."

Senior Islamic Jihad leader Khalid Al-Batsh said that targeting journalists was part of "the holocaust policy" announced by Israeli forces. "They kill journalists, children, women and elderly citizens without exception," he said.

Since the beginning of the Intifada in late September 2000, Israeli occupation Forces have killed nine journalists, including an Italian and a British journalist, and have wounded at least 170 others.

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