Journalists Protest Israeli Actions in Gaza

JERUSALEM, June 16, 2008 — -- Journalists in the Gaza Strip symbolically and literally laid down their cameras Monday, refusing to cover any Israel Defense Forces military operations taking place in Gaza for the day. They are demanding the Israeli government release the results of the investigation into the death of a Reuters journalist killed in Gaza exactly two months ago.

On April 16, an Israeli tank shell killed Reuters video photojournalist Fadel Shana, 24, and injured his soundman, 25-year-old Wafa Abu Mizyed.

According to Reuters Deputy Bureau Chief Julian Rake, Shana had been operating according to standard press procedure. When he was killed, he had been wearing a flak jacket clearly marked with press symbols and his car was marked with press stickers.

"Fadel Shana was operating cautiously. He was doing everything right, which makes it all the more troubling that this happened," Rake told ABC News in a telephone interview from Gaza.

Rake said that Shana was in full view of the tanks and was aware of them for several minutes before the strike. In fact, Shana was filming one of the tanks.

His final seconds of tape reveal his own death — the footage shows an explosion in the distance, followed by ensuing blackness once the camera was hit.

The explosion, which also killed eight civilian bystanders, sent shockwaves through the journalist community, Rake said.

"People are unwilling to embark on missions they would have embarked on," he said. "Journalists have been de facto restricting the way they cover operations inside Gaza."

The journalists' protest in Gaza today was intended to put pressure on the Israeli government to provide answers to the public and to Shana's family.

"Two months seems like an extraordinarily long time to provide these answers," Rake said.

However, Major Avital Leibovich, senior foreign press spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Force, was unaware of any protest taking place today. She said the IDF is still checking on some details in the investigation.