Journalist killed filming Gaza attacks
A cameraman for the Reuters news agency was among more than a dozen people killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip today.
Three Israeli soldiers also died in separate fighting.
The bloodshed marked a sudden increase in violence in Gaza, which had experienced a relative lull since Israel ended a broad offensive aimed at stopping rocket attacks on its territory in early March.
In the deadliest incident, an Israeli helicopter fired four missiles at targets near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. At least eight Palestinians, including two youths, were killed, said the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The cameraman, Fadal Shanaa, was apparently killed in an airstrike in the same area, according to his colleagues.
Other cameramen who ran to the scene said they saw the Reuters car on fire, and Mr Shanaa’s body lying next to it, alongside other casualties. They said the car was marked as “press” and that the cameraman was wearing an identifying flak jacket.
As colleagues rushed toward Mr Shanaa, another missile was fired, said Wissam Nassar, a photographer with the Maan news agency. “There was an airstrike. We were thrown back, myself and another person.”
Dozens of Palestinian journalists went to the hospital where Mr Shanaa was pronounced dead to pay their respects.
Four journalists have now been killed covering the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1992.
The Israeli army confirmed a helicopter had targeted a group of gunmen in Bureij.
In other violence, Palestinian militants ambushed an Israeli ground force in northern Gaza, killing three soldiers.
Israeli defence officials said the soldiers had entered Gaza in pursuit of two Hamas militants who planted a bomb near the border. The soldiers were then ambushed by another Hamas force lying in wait.
The attack occurred near the Nahal Oz terminal used by Israel to pump fuel into Gaza. The fuel supply was cut off last week after two Israeli civilians were killed in a Palestinian attack on the terminal – the only source of fuel for Gaza. Hours after today’s ambush, Israel resumed fuel shipments to Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.
The fuel deliveries were expected to provide minor relief to the Gaza Strip.
Israel has been cutting back on fuel and other basic supplies allowed into Gaza for months, trying to pressure Gaza’s Islamic Hamas government to stop rocket attacks.
In separate fighting, five Palestinian militants were killed.
Today’s violence threatened to spark a new wave of fighting between Gaza militants and the Israeli army. Israel’s latest offensive killed more than 120 Palestinians, including dozens of civilians. Since Israel ended it, Egypt has unsuccessfully been trying to mediate a cease-fire.
