RSF appalled by death of Italian journalist in Ramallah

  Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières - RSF) said it was "appalled" by the death of Italian freelance journalist Raffaele Ciriello as a result of Israeli gunfire in Ramallah today and demandes an immediate enquiry into exactly how he was killed and, if necessary, the trial of those responsible. "For months, we have been denouncing the impunity enjoyed by Israeli troops firing on journalists," said RSF secretary-general Robert Ménard. "We have frequently been concerned by the almost complete lack of investigation by the Israeli authorities into such shootings. It was bound to lead to this kind of tragedy. Today, what we always feared has happened: a journalist has been killed, the first since the start of the second Intifada. We are appalled." A report by RSF after a visit to the area last summer said there had been 45 incidents of journalists being wounded by gunfire, mostly by Israeli soldiers,         over the previous 10 months. Since then, at least two more have been wounded in Israeli shootings. RSF learns that Ciriello, a freelance photographer on assignment for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, was hit by six bullets fired from an Israeli tank as he was covering an Israeli incursion into Ramallah near the central Al-Manara Square. With a journalist from the Italian TV station Rai Uno, Amedeo Ricucci, he was in an alleyway off the main street, behind a group of armed Palestinians, when the tank crew, 150 metres away, suddenly opened fire. Ambulances could not reach the scene because of the fierce gunfire, so Ciriello was taken by young Palestinians to the Arab Care hospital, where he died before he could be operated on. The hospital said he had been hit in the chest, stomach, intestines and kidneys. Another photographer, who was French and did not want to be named, was wounded in the leg during the shooting in the square. He said he did not know whether he had been hit by shrapnel or a bullet. The day before (12 March), about 30 journalists were standing on the balcony of a hotel overlooking the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah when an Israeli tank opened fire on them. The journalists took cover inside the hotel. An Israeli army spokesman reportedly apologised to one of them by phone and said troops had mistaken them for Palestinian snipers and their cameras for guns. The Israeli army prevented journalists from entering Ramallah until 4 pm on 12 March, while troops occupied most of the city. Ciriello, 42, began his career a decade ago photographing motor-cycle races and events such as the Paris-Dakar race before becoming interested in war photo-journalism. He had reported on conflicts all over the world, including Lebanon, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kosovo, Eritrea and Sierra Leone. He also worked with Maria Grazia Cutuli, an Italian journalist killed in Afghanistan last November. see the Case Study of 45 Lournalists i,jured by bullets in the occupied territories from september 2000 to july 2001 (.pdf)