A Palestinian cameraman seriously wounded

Reporters Without Borders has written to Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz urging a "quick and thorough" investigation into how cameraman Majdi Al Arabid of Channel 10 was badly wounded in shooting on 2 January in Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Al Arabid was hit twice, once in the stomach and once in the leg, as he filmed an Israeli military incursion into the town of Beit Hanoun. He was rushed to Kamal Edwane Hospital where he underwent an operation before being transferred to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, 84 kms south of Jerusalem. His condition has improved but his injuries remain serious. "At least three journalists were injured in Israeli Army shooting in 2004 and three others were physically attacked", said the worldwide press freedom organisation in its letter to the minister. "We regret that the Israeli Army does not take the presence of journalists sufficiently seriously and does not do everything possible to protect them". The Israeli authorities have opened an investigation. The source of the shooting is not yet known but the trajectory of the bullets suggested they came from Israeli positions. The cameraman said after the shooting that he was extremely shocked since he had established contact with the Israeli soldiers, who therefore knew there were journalists present at the scene. Schlomi Eldar, a journalist on Channel 10 who was with the cameraman, told public radio that the Israeli soldiers "opened fire without warning". There were several local media teams on the spot at the time to cover the military incursion.