These incredible images of an Israeli tank opening fire in the Gaza Strip were recorded seconds before the shell killed the Reuters journalist who filmed it.
Fadel Shana, 23, yesterday had stepped from his car – clearly bearing press markings, Reuters reported – to tape the tank, which was dug in several hundred yards away.
The video from Shana’s camera shows the tank firing in a burst of smoke and flame. Two seconds later, the tape eerily goes blank.
PHOTOS: Last Images of Photographer Killed in Gaza
It was apparently the moment Shana was hit.
Reuters sound man Wafa Abu Mizyed, 25, suffered a shrapnel wound.
The vehicle was an unarmored SUV bearing “TV” and “press” markings, Reuters said.
The strike occurred in good light at around 5 p.m., Reuters reported.
Shana had been covering the bloodshed on a day when 18 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were also killed. Israel has been blitzing Hamas positions to stop a rain of rocket attacks.
Two youths who were passing by also died in the explosion that killed Shana, according to Reuters.
The Israeli army expressed sorrow, but also said journalists were putting their lives at risk in areas of combat.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman said, “In our operations, we try to be as surgical as possible and make every effort not to see innocent people caught up in the fighting.”
Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger called for an investigation.