Shot journalist ‘targeted’ by Israeli snipers

in Gaza City THE Israeli military is facing widespread questions over why its snipers killed a Palestinian journalist who was wearing body armour clearly marked with a “Press” sign.

Yaser Murtaja, 30, was shot in the side on Friday afternoon while covering protests along the Gaza border and later died from his injuries. At least five other Palestinian journalists were reportedly shot by Israeli troops during the protest.

Murtaja, a freelance cameraman who had worked for the BBC and the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei, was filming in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza and was about 320 yards from the Israeli border fence when he was shot, his colleagues said.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it was investigating the shootings.

“The IDF does not intentionally target journalists. The circumstances in which journalists were allegedly hit by IDF fire are not familiar to the IDF, and are being looked into,” a spokesman said. Family and friends of Murtaja accused Israeli forces of deliberately target- ing him, saying there was no way a sniper could have mistaken him for a protester when he was clearly marked as a journalist.

“He was wearing a press jacket and a helmet,” said Rushdi Serraj, a journalist who was with Murtaja when he was shot. “The vest was so visible. It’s clear that they targeted him on purpose.”

Murtaja was married and had a three-year-old son. While he had worked for many leading international media outlets, he had never left the walled confines of Gaza and dreamed of one day flying in an aeroplane.

Murtaja worked on Ai Wei Wei’s Human Flow documentary about the refugee crisis. The artist posted a photograph of him on Instagram yesterday, showing him lying on the ground moments after he was shot.

His colleagues carried his body through the streets of Gaza City, draped in a Palestinian flag and the blue flak jacket that was not enough to save his life. Thousands of people turned out for his funeral at al-Omari mosque.

At least 31 Palestinians have been killed since protests began on March 30.