Israeli troops shoot dead cameraman

AP

19 April 2003

An Israeli soldier shot and killed a cameraman with Associated Press Television News who was covering a skirmish between troops and rock-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus today.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment but said it was looking into the shooting.

Nazeh Darwazeh, aged 45, was filming clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians. Doctors said he died of a bullet wound to the head.

Video footage taken by a Reuters cameraman showed young Palestinian men running up an alley toward a parked armoured personnel carrier. After they threw rocks at the vehicle, troops fired shots. Witnesses said several firebombs were thrown toward the vehicle, and later footage showed parof it on fire.

The footage then showed a man with a rifle in green combat fatigues kneeling down between the armoured personnel carrier and the wall of a house at the top of the alley. Witnesses identified the man as an Israeli soldier.

The footage showed him pointing his weapon toward the journalists. Seconds later, Mr Darwazeh was seen lying in a doorway in a pool of blood.

Palestinian cameraman Nazih Darwazeh, who was killed Saturday, is shown in this undated file photo.

He and other cameramen, still photographers and reporters had been at the bottom of the alley and were wearing brightly colored vests that said "Press." It was unclear whether there was anyone behind Darwazeh at whom the soldiers might have been aiming when he was shot.

"A soldier came from under the tank and shot towards us," said Hassan Titi, a Reuters cameraman who witnessed and filmed the shooting. Another witness, Sami al Assi, a cameraman with a local TV station, said "The Israelis shot him and aimed specifically at us."

Before the shooting, there were clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in an area near the alley. Seventeen Palestinians were injured, doctors said. Nablus has been a flashpoint of recent tensions between Israeli troops and Palestinians.

Dr Hussam Johari of the Rafidieh Hospital said Darwazeh died from a bullet wound to his head. He had been shot above the right eye as he peered into the camera viewfinder, doctors said.

Reuters photographer Abdel Rahim Quesini said there were five photographers in the group that had been filming the clashes.

Mr Darwazeh had lived in Nablus all his life and had worked for APTN for two years. He is survived by a wife, Raeda, and by five children ranging in age from 6 months to 9 years.

The conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories remains one of the world's most dangerous assignments for journalists. Three have been killed in the last year alone.