Israel Matzav: IDF denies responsibility for photographer's death

Friday, April 18, 2008

IDF denies responsibility for photographer's death

The IDF is denying responsibility for the death of 'Palestinian' photographer Fadel Shana (pictured) near El-Bureij on Wednesday.

THE Israeli Defence Force says it does not admit responsibility for killing a Reuters TV cameraman who died in the Gaza Strip moments after he filmed a tank firing in his direction.

Fadel Shana, 23, was among 20 Palestinian militants and civilians - among them five children - killed in a surge of violence following the deaths of three Israeli soldiers in a gun-battle in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Shana's colleagues at the scene said his clearly marked press vehicle was attacked again, about two minutes after the first missile struck it, driving back would-be rescuers and injuring several.

That sounds like an out and out lie. Let's go to the videotape and have a look.

On Thursday, Snapped Shot did a detailed analysis of a series of photographs taken at the scene of the incident. Note how long it takes until bodies start appearing on the ground (Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs). Note also - as Israellycool points out - that Shana had a history of being a bit too cozy with the terrorists.

Well my detective work reveals that Shana was injured almost two years after a Reuters vehicle was purportedly hit by an Israeli missile. At the time he was traveling in the Reuters vehicle with another man - an employee of the Iranian World TV network. Not only that, but Shana himself was lying his head off.

Yet it is unclear why anyone should believe either Shana or Reuters. Shana told Reuters that as he was driving to the battle scene, “I suddenly saw fire and the doors of the jeep flew open.” He claims to have been wounded by shrapnel in his hand and leg. These are minor injuries for someone whose vehicle was just hit by a missile.

But then, the photographs taken of his vehicle after the purported missile attack give no indication that the car was hit by anything. There is a gash on the roof. The hood is bent out of shape. But nothing seems to have been burned. Cars hit by missiles do not look like they have just been in a nasty accident. Cars hit by missiles are destroyed. Yet the glass on the windshield and the windows of Shana’s vehicle isn’t even shattered. In the photographs taken of Shana on the way to the hospital in Gaza, he lies on a stretcher, eyes closed, arm extended in full pieta mode. He is not visibly bleeding although there are some blood stains on his shirt, but then his undershirt is completely white.

No wonder the palestinians are mourning him as a shahid.

No wonder indeed. Read the whole thing.

Let's go back to the Sydney Morning Herald for a minute:

A medical examination [By whom and where is the evidence. We've seen the results of 'Palestinian' medical examinations before. CiJ] yesterday revealed that metal darts from a tank shell that explodes in the air killed Shana. X-rays showed several of the controversial weapons, known as flechettes, in his chest and legs. Several of the three-centimetre darts were also in his flak jacket and vehicle. [I'll believe it when I see the evidence. CiJ]

"The evidence from the medical examination underlines the importance of a swift, honest and impartial investigation by the Israel Defence Forces and by the Government," said David Schlesinger, the editor-in-chief of Reuters News.

An Israeli military official expressed sorrow but said the IDF did not accept responsibility for the killing. The official said that Israeli forces had only fired at armed militants who were shooting at them from close range. It did not know what kind of missile had struck the press vehicle, and it was unaware of reports of a second attack minutes later. The incident is being investigated, the official said.

Journalists had been drawn to the area to cover the aftermath of a bloody air-strike launched in support of Israeli armoured troops, who had crossed into Gaza in the wake of a Hamas ambush which killed three soldiers. Survivors said three militants died along with at least six others - a woman, two children and three members of a non-violent Islamic sect - when Israeli aerial missiles struck a mosque and houses in the hamlet of Johara a'diq, near Bureij in central Gaza. [And why were three 'militants' hiding among "a woman, two children and three members of a non-violent Islamic sect? CiJ].