TEL AVIV, Israel, June 8 -- A veteran Israeli war correspondent has been slightly wounded by gunfire near Kosovo's capital of Pristina, while Macedonian authorities briefly detained seven other Israelis who had sent a drone into the air to film a battle zone for television. The wounded journalist, Ron Ben-Yishai of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, was shot today in the leg while traveling with another reporter and a driver near Pristina.
Ben-Yishai said he heard one of more shots, but couldn't tell exactly how many 'because the windows were closed and there was music in the car.' 'I felt a strong hit,' he said. The bullet pierced the driver's door and hit Ben-Yashi's leg. In another incident, Macedonian authorities arrested an Israeli team headed by former television journalist Yigal Goren that had launched a small drone to fly over Kosovo and film the area. Macedonian authorities said the Israelis were not accredited by any news organization. Goren said his group was part of a new company he had established recently and planned to sell the footage to television stations. He said the authorities examined the pictures and returned them. Ben-Yishai's injury is the third of his colorful career as a military correspondent that has repeatedly taken him to the thick of the fighting. He was wounded in both legs in 1969 while flying in a military helicopter during a raid on Jordan, and suffered a hand injury during a tank battle with Syrian on the Golan Heights in 1972. Israel's military Chief of General Staff cited him for bravery when he helped treat wounded members of an infantry unit near the Suez Canal during one of the worst battles of the 1973 war. ---
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