GAZA, May 3 (UPI) -- Israeli troops stationed on the borders between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt shot and killed a British cameraman late Friday as he filmed Israeli bulldozers razing Palestinian houses, witnesses said.
They said that James Moller, 43, a British citizen and a freelance cameraman who works for Frost Bite, British company for producing documentary films, was shot in the neck by Israeli troops' gunfire. He reportedly had been waving a small white flag in the glare of his camera lighting equipment.
The incident occurred in Rafah, a refugee camp turned town just north of Egypt and one of the tensest areas of the Palestinian territories since the intifada, or uprising, began in September 2000. Israelis often stage incursions there in an effort to stop both militancy and cross-border smuggling operations that they say bring weapons and black-market products into the Palestinian territories.
The witnesses said Palestinian ambulances were not able to reach Moller because of intense Israeli heavy gunfire, but added Israeli troops carried him to an armored personnel carrier.
Saera Shah, a freelance producer for Frost Bite, told United Press International that Moller died later of his wounds at an Israeli hospital.
Israeli soldiers had clearly seen Moller filming near the borders, she said: "What the Israeli soldiers did is a real crime because they killed James in cold blood."
A Palestinian cameraman was shot dead two weeks ago by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank town of Nablus. He was shot in the neck while filming clashes between Israel and the Palestinians.
In March, an Israeli bulldozer crushed a 23-year-old American peace activist in Rafah who was trying to protect Palestinian homes there -- an incident the Israelis said was an accident. A British activist was wounded in the head by Israeli gunfire two weeks later.
