A Palestinian journalist was shot and killed by Israeli forces while covering protests along the Israeli border in Gaza late Friday.

Photos show Yasser Murtaja, 31, wearing a "press" vest as he was evacuated during the clashes after being shot. He died of his injuries shortly afterwards.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate report that six journalists, all of whom they say were easily identifiable as press, were shot by Israeli forces firing over the border on Friday, including Murtaja.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces told BuzzFeed News that they were investigating Murtaja's death, but said that journalists were not intentionally targeted. The spokesperson said IDF troops were working to protect the security fence with Israel from Hamas, which they blamed for inciting "tens of thousands" of people to approach and attack the fence, throwing explosives and rocks at soldiers.

"IDF troops are operating in accordance with clear rules of engagement that are tailored to this scenario. The IDF uses means such as warnings, riot dispersal means, and as a last resort firing live rounds in a precise, measured way,” said the spokesperson.

“The IDF does not intentionally target journalists. The circumstances in which journalists were allegedly hit by IDF fire are not familiar to the IDF, and are being looked into," the spokesperson said.

Witnesses told the Associated Press reported Murtaja was shot below the armpit while holding his camera as protesters set fire to tires, resulting in thick black smoke. </s> Reporters Without Borders on Saturday accused the Israeli army of the "deliberate shooting" of journalists in Gaza after a week of bloodshed by the border.

Nine people were killed in the latest unrest, including Yasser Murtaja, a journalist with the Gaza-based Ain Media agency who died from his wounds after being shot, the health ministry in Gaza said.

At least 491 people were also wounded by Israeli gunfire, the ministry said, as thousands of protesters approached the border fence around Gaza for a second Friday in a row, burning tyres and hurling stones at Israeli forces.

"Palestinian photographer Yasser Mourtaja was wearing a vest marked "Press": he was obviously the victim of an intentional shot," said Christophe Deloire, the Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), on Twitter.

"RSF condemns absolutely the deliberate shooting of journalists by the Israeli army."

Murtaja, 30, was shot while taking pictures of the protests east of Khan Younis in the south of the territory, according to the health ministry.

Witnesses say he was close to the front of the protests when he was hit.

An AFP picture taken after he was wounded showed Murtaja wearing a press vest as he received treatment.

His brother Motazem, also a journalist, said he was next to him when he was shot. "The target was very clearly journalists," he said.

Israel's army declined to comment, saying it was reviewing the incident.

Mourners and journalists carried Murtaja's body through the streets of Gaza during his funeral on Saturday.

"We call on the Israeli government to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists (adopted in 2015), demand an urgent independent investigation and the sentencing of the perpetrators of this crime against freedom of the press," said Deloire.

Israel said around 20,000 people took part in the protests and that they were seeking to breach the border.

The numbers were down from the previous Friday, when tens of thousands approached the border in demonstrations that saw Israeli forces kill 19 Palestinians, making it the bloodiest day in Gaza since a 2014 war. </s> Hundreds gathered in Gaza City Saturday for the funeral of Palestinian journalist Yasser Murtaja, who was killed by Israeli fire at protests at the Gaza-Israel border on Friday.

Murtaja died in the hospital after being shot by IDF fire whilst covering the second week of the Great Return March protests. His death brings the total number of casualties from Friday to 10.

READ MORE: Great Return March: 10 Palestinian protesters killed after IDF fire on Gaza border (VIDEOS)

Murtaja was wearing a press flak jacket and holding his camera when he was shot in the side of his abdomen in the town of Khuzaa. He was among six Palestinian journalists reported wounded by gunfire on Friday. Photographs of Murtaja being treated after he was shot show him wearing a press jacket.

“We were filming as youths torched tyres.” photographer Ashraf Abu Amra told Reuters. “We were about 250 meters from the fence. Israeli forces opened fire and injuries began. Yaser and I ran to film when suddenly Yaser fell to the ground.”

Murtaja was a photojournalist and filmmaker with Ain Media, which he co-founded. It creates work used by international media clients like the BBC and Al Jazeera. His shooting and subsequent death was announced by journalism groups including the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, The Gaza Center for Media Freedom, and Reporters without Borders.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was among the hundreds at the funeral Saturday. Meanwhile, dozens of journalists gathered in Manara Square in Ramallah in the West Bank to protest Murtaja’s death, the WAFA News Agency reported.

RT has contacted the IDF for comment about Murtaja’s death and reports that it fired at members of the media. An Israeli Army spokesperson told the Times of Israel it had no immediate comment on the issue.

Two weeks before he died, Murtaja shared a drone image of Gaza’s sea on Facebook, writing, “I wished I could take this photo from the sky, not from land. My name is Yasser Murtaja, I am 30 years old. I live in Gaza City. I have never traveled.”

The Great Return March is planned to continue up until the anniversary of the ‘Nakba’ on May 15, which Palestinians call the mass exodus from their land during the establishment of the state of Israel. Israelis celebrate this as Independence Day. Gaza is home to 2 million residents, many of them refugees expelled from Israel, who maintain the hope that their right to return will one day be granted.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! </s> GAZA – A Palestinian journalist died on Saturday after being wounded by Israeli fire on Friday while covering deadly protests along the Israel-Gaza border, health officials said.

Yaser Murtaja, 30, a cameraman for Palestinian Ain Media, was the 29th Palestinian killed in the week-long protests.

Photos showed Murtaja lying wounded on a stretcher wearing a navy-blue protective vest marked ‘PRESS’ in large black capital letters. Health officials said a live bullet had penetrated the side of his abdomen and he succumbed to his wounds in hospital.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the army was looking into the incident and could not comment further at this stage.

The daily protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return”, began on March 30 along the Israel-Gaza frontier, reviving a longstanding demand for the right of return of Palestinian refugees to towns and villages from which their families fled, or were driven out, when the state of Israel was created.

Israel has stationed sharpshooters to stop attempts by Palestinians to breach the border or sabotage the security fence.

Freelance photographer Ashraf Abu Amra told Reuters he was next to Murtaja, whom he said was wearing a helmet and protective vest. Abu Amra said they were both clearly marked as journalists.

“We were filming as youths torched tyres. We were about 250 meters from the fence,” said Abu Amra. “Israeli forces opened fire and injuries began. Yaser and I ran to film when suddenly Yaser fell to the ground.

“I screamed to him ‘Yaser are you alright?’. He didn’t respond and there was blood on the ground underneath him. I knew it was a bad injury and people carried him away,” said Abu Amra.

Video footage showed Murtaja being carried to an ambulance with crowds around and black smoke rising from where protesters had set tyres alight, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Murtaja was married with a two-year-old son. Hundreds of mourners, among them many journalists, attended his funeral on Saturday.

His body was covered with a Palestinian flag and his press jacket laid beside him on the stretcher as it was carried through the streets of Gaza City to his home for a last farewell.

“I made him breakfast, he ate quickly, he was in a hurry to go to work,” said Murtaja’s mother, Yusra, recounting the morning of the protest.

“I thought he would recover from his injury, I didn’t expect his death, but God has chosen him as a martyr, thank God,” she said, sitting on the ground as mourners came to the house to pay their respects.

Israel Radio, citing an unnamed source in Gaza, said Murtaja had been operating a camera drone on Friday. Abu Amra and two other Palestinian journalists said Murtaja was not operating a camera drone when shot.

 Murtaja, on his Facebook page, had posted two aerial photos taken at the border in the past week. It was unclear if he had taken them himself.

At least three other journalists were wounded on Friday in other locations, Gaza officials said. There have been no Israeli casualties in the protests.

Israel’s response to the protests has drawn international criticism, with human rights groups saying it involved live fire against demonstrators posing no immediate threat to life.

Israel says it is doing what it must to defend its border and its troops have been responding with riot dispersal means and fire “in accordance with the rules of engagement”.

Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, says the protests demanding the right of return of refugees will continue.

The Israeli government has ruled out any right of return, fearing the country would lose its Jewish majority.

Israel says many of the dead were militants and that Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the West, is using the protests as cover to launch attacks along the border and ignite the area, while putting Gaza’s civilians at risk. </s> Palestinians killed in conflict with Israeli forces are often wrapped in their national or party flags, but there was something different about Yasser Murtaja's body ahead of his Saturday burial.

Resting on the journalist's chest was a flak jacket marked PRESS, possibly the one he was wearing the day before when he was shot dead at the Gaza border, apparently by an Israeli sniper.

Dozens of journalists, many fighting back tears, followed the body of the 30-year-old father as it was carried from the hospital to his home late Saturday morning.

His serene face exposed and body wrapped in the Palestinian flag, the flak jacket lay on his lifeless chest.

Murtaja was one of nine Palestinians killed as Israeli troops shot at thousands of stone-throwing protesters in five spots along the border Friday, a week after 19 people were killed during similar demonstrations.

His killing will likely increase calls for Israel to investigate the deaths, with photos taken at the scene indicating he was wearing a press vest when he was shot.

Murtaja, who was well known in the local media scene, worked for the relatively small Gaza-based Al-Ain media production company, specialising in documentaries.

His brother Mutasim, also a journalist who was with him Friday, said Murtaja was photographing a number of protesters burning tyres when he was shot.

"Yasser went forward to take the true pictures to show the world," he told AFP.

"Then the bullet hit him in his stomach."

The Israeli army said in a statement it "does not intentionally target journalists."

"The circumstances in which journalists were allegedly hit by Israeli Defence Force (IDF) fire are not familiar to the IDF, and are being looked into."

- 'Up in the air' -

Murtaja recently worked on a documentary about the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, which was shown on Al-Jazeera Arabic.

But he also focused on other topics, where frequently used drones, which seem to have been something of an escape from life in Gaza.

The Palestinian enclave has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade, while Egypt has all but sealed its border in recent years as well -- leaving the Strip's two million residents effectively locked in.

"My name is Yasser Murtaja, I am 30 years old, live in Gaza City and have never travelled," the journalist said in a March post on Facebook accompanying one of his drone photos from high above Gaza.

"Today I take a shot and I am up in the air, not on the ground."

Hind Khoudary, a friend and fellow journalist, said he was "a beautiful person both inside and out".

"His reputation with everyone was as someone very kind," she added, tears welling in her eyes.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, whose group Israel and the United States consider a terrorist organisation, attended the funeral and eulogised Murtaja.

The journalist's friends and family insisted he was independent of any political party.

Israel has accused Hamas of orchestrating the protests and using them as an excuse to carry out attacks.

Haniya often attends funerals of those killed in violence with Israel, even if they are not Hamas.

Al-Ain's office in Gaza City, were Murtaja worked, was closed Saturday, but Khoudary said the death made journalists feel they were "all targets".

"He was only covering what was happening." </s> Mourners carry the body of Palestinian cameraman who was shot and killed on Friday by Israeli troops while covering a protest at the Gaza Strip's border with Israel, during his funeral in Gaza City. Picture: Khalil Hamra/AP

Gaza City, Gaza Strip — Hundreds attended the funeral of a well-known Palestinian journalist in Gaza on Saturday who was killed while covering mass protests along the Israeli border the previous day.

Yasser Murtaja died from a gunshot wound he sustained while filming Friday in an area engulfed in thick black smoke from protesters setting tires on fire. Israeli troops opened fire from across the border, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding 491 others in the second mass border protest in eight days. The deaths brought to at least 31 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since last week. The border area appeared calm Saturday.

Witnesses said Murtaja was over 100 meters (yards) from the border, wearing a flak jacket marked "press" and holding his camera when he was shot in an exposed area just below the armpit.

The Israeli military has said it fired only at "instigators" involved in attacks on soldiers and was investigating Murtaja's death amid a very hectic environment.

"The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) uses means such as warnings, riot dispersal means, and as a last resort firing live rounds in a precise, measured way," it said Saturday. "The IDF does not intentionally target journalists. The circumstances in which journalists were allegedly hit by IDF fire are not familiar to the IDF, and are being looked into."

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since a 2007 takeover and calls for Israel's destruction, has called for a series of protests until May 15, the anniversary of Israel's founding when Palestinians commemorate their mass uprooting during the 1948 war over Israel's creation.

The Islamic group hopes the mass protests can create pressure to break a border blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt since 2007, without having to succumb to demands that it disarm. The blockade has made it increasingly difficult for Hamas to govern. It has also devastated Gaza's economy, made it virtually impossible for people to enter and exit the territory, and left residents with just a few hours of electricity a day.

Israel argues that Hamas could have ended the suffering of Gaza's 2 million people by disarming and renouncing violence.

It says Hamas is exploiting the mass marches as a cover for attacking the border fence, and has vowed to prevent a breach at all costs. The military said that on Friday protesters hurled several explosive devices and firebombs, using the thick plumes of smoke from burning tires as cover, and that several attempts to cross the fence were thwarted.

Colleagues said Murtaja was not affiliated with Hamas or any other militant group, and there were no Hamas symbols normally seen at the funerals for militants.

In an apparent sign of solidarity, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh attended the funeral Saturday.

"The Return March is a battle of truth and awareness," Haniyeh said of the protests. "Yasser held his camera to direct the arrows of truth to convey the image of the besieged people."

At the funeral, Murtaja's body was draped in a Palestinian flag with his flak jacket reading "press" placed upon him as he was carried through the streets of Gaza. The drone he had used for shooting footage of Gaza hovered above to film his funeral. Dozens of his close friends and colleagues were sobbing after the coffin was taken out of the morgue.

Murtaja, 30, was the co-founder of Ain media, a local TV production company that has done projects, including aerial drone video, for foreign media clients such as the BBC and Al Jazeera English. He was one of the first to bring a drone camera into Gaza and his images captivated many of its residents who have never seen Gaza from above since it has no airport or skyscrapers.

His death, along with the other recent casualties, seemed likely to draw renewed criticism from rights groups that have branded Israel's open-fire orders on the border as unlawful, after Israel's defense minister warned that those approaching the fence were risking their lives.

Three other journalists sustained tear gas injuries and at least one cameraman a gunshot in his leg, health ministry and media activists reported.

AIDA, a network of more than 70 non-government organizations operating in the Palestinian territories, condemned Saturday what they called "the unlawful killing of civilians" Friday. It follows accusations from the United Nations' human rights office that it has indications of Israeli forces using "excessive force" the previous week.

The European Union on Saturday issued a statement saying Friday's violence "raises serious questions about the proportionate use of force which must be addressed."

Witnesses described the area in which Murtaja and others were shot as a chaotic scene in which protesters torched large piles of tires, engulfing the area in black smoke that was meant to shield them from Israeli snipers. Footage showed that visibility was limited and the faces of some of the activists were covered with black soot.

Israeli troops on the other side of the fence responded with tear gas, rubber-coated steel pellets and water cannons, as well as occasional live fire. Footage taken of the wounded journalist shortly after he was shot shows medics frantically bandaging his chest and trying to connect an IV bag. Murtaja himself is seen moving his head from side to side and talking to those around him before he is placed on a stretcher and taken to an ambulance.

Just two weeks ago, Murtaja posted a drone photo of Gaza's seaport at sunset on his Facebook page with the following caption: "I wished I could take this photo from the sky, not from land. My name is Yasser Murtaja, I am 30 years old. I live in Gaza City. I have never traveled."

Friends say it reflected his greatest wish — to escape Gaza's isolation.

Hana Awad, his colleague and close friend, said he had long dreamt of traveling and was recently granted an Al Jazeera scholarship for training in Doha. She described him as active and friendly and not at all interested in politics.

"We didn't know his political views, he was passionate about his job and wanted to travel and learn," she said of Murtaja, who was the father of a 2-year-old boy. </s> Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday slammed requests to open an investigation into the shooting death of a Palestinian journalist killed while covering Friday's protests in Gaza. 



"The demand to investigate the shooting...is hypocrisy, the march of folly to which we are accustomed," he said. "We have seen dozens of cases of Hamas activists were disguised as medics and journalists. We also saw a journalist approach the border and operate a drone, we do not take chances in those cases. We issued warnings in English and Arabic to the protesters urging them not to endanger themselves. In the march of terror there were no innocent civilians, they were all Hamas members." 





The National Journalists Association penned a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot on Saturday requesting the IDF open an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Gazan journalist Yasser Murtaja, who was shot and killed while covering Friday's protests . Five other journalists were reportedly injured by live fire during the protests.Former journalist, MK Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union) voiced her support for the opening of an investigation on Twitter."I didn't know Yasser Murtaja, but I did know dozens of other Palestinian journalists working in Gaza, back when Israeli reporters were allowed to enter the Gaza Strip. As far as I know, he wasn't threatening anyone or trying to cross the border. He, or any other journalists, should not have been shot," she wrote.Deflecting criticism of disproportionate use of violence by the IDF, Liberman added: "In Syria, half a million people have been killed so far, and only 40 killed at the end of last week. In Sudan and Iraq, hundreds of thousands have been murdered and no chirp or demand is heart, so it is clear that this is hypocritical, just as the Human Rights Council is making decisions against the State of Israel and not against North Korea, Syria and Sudan."Liberman credited the decrease in deaths in Friday's protests, from 20 last week to seven this week, to Hamas understanding that Israel would not compromise when it comes to national security."I have no problem keeping forces on the border," Liberman said. "We can keep them there for two years."The IDF announced after Murtaja's death was made public that it would be investigating the situation, but noted firmly that the IDF "does not kill journalists."Liberman also called for the Attorney General to launch an investigation into human rights group B'tselem on suspicion of incitement to insubordination after the group issued calls in the media for IDF soldiers to disobey orders to shoot at protesters. </s> GAZA - A Palestinian journalist, shot by Israeli forces while covering a protest along the Gaza-Israel border nearly two weeks ago, died of his wounds on Wednesday, the Hamas-run health ministry said.



Ahmed Abu Hussein, 24, worked for Gaza's Al-Shaab radio station and wore a protective vest marked "Press" at the protest on April 13, witnesses said. Photos of Abu Hussein lying wounded in his vest appeared on social media.

He was the second journalist killed by Israeli gunfire since the weekly Friday protests, for a right of return of Palestinians refugees and their descendants to homes in what is now Israel, began on March 30.Funeral held for Palestinian journalist killed in Israel-Gaza protests, April 7, 2018 (Reuters)The health officials said a bullet penetrated Abu Hussein's side. He was moved from Gaza to a hospital in the West Bank and then transferred to a hospital in Israel, where he died.His death raised to 38 the number of Palestinians killed in the protests near the border.An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on Abu Hussein's death. Yaser Murtaja, 30, a cameraman for Palestinian Ain Media , was shot on April 6 and died the next day. After his death, the Israeli military said it does not intentionally target journalists and that it would look into the circumstances of the shooting.The Palestinian journalists' union accused Israel of "deliberately" targeting Abu Hussein and Murtaja, vowing to seek to bring "leaders of the occupation" to justice.Abu Hussein will be buried in Gaza on Thursday.Israel’s live-fire response to the protests has drawn international criticism.Israel says it has been warning Gazans not to approach the border fence and that it is doing what is necessary to stop the barrier from being damaged or breached.The Palestinians said Israel, which has deployed army sharpshooters along the frontier, used "excessive force against unarmed protesters". Some protesters have hurled stones and rolled burning tyres towards the fence.Gaza is run by the Hamas Islamist movement, designated by Israel and the West as a terrorist group.

var cont = `Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>



`; document.getElementById("linkPremium").innerHTML = cont; (function (v, i){ }); </s> The drone floats above the farmland at the east of Gaza’s narrow coastal strip where beyond the fence – the transition is almost invisible – Israel’s border communities begin.



The video is among the last footage filmed by Palestinian photographer Yasser Murtaja in Gaza before he was shot dead by Israeli troops last Friday – and it eerily foreshadows his own fate.

Palestinian demonstrators walk through the flat fields, hold signs or sit in the shade of tents in the five border protest camps that dot the landscape from east of Jabaliya in the north to Khuza’a, a short drive from the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Murtaja died on the second of a series of mass Friday protests called the “Great March of Return”, which will culminate on “Nakba” Day (catastrophe in Arabic) on 15 May, which will commemorate the events of 1948 when, following the creation of the state of Israel, more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.



Despite wearing body armour clearly marked with a press sign, Murtaja was shot in the stomach while covering the protests and died later of his wounds. He was one of nine Palestinian men killed in a space of a few hours.

Murtaja’s video footage – provided to the Guardian by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) – shows an injured man being rushed away on a stretcher. Burning tyres billow black smoke close to the fence. A zoomed shot shows a grainy image of Israeli soldiers, one raising his rifle.

Commenting on the killing of Murtaja, Israel’s defence minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested the journalist, a father of one, was responsible for his own death – despite the fact that Israel was warned that its shooting of civilians could amount to a war crime by the International Criminal Court.

“I don’t know who he is, a photographer, not a photographer. Whoever operates drones above [Israeli] soldiers needs to understand that he is endangering himself,” said Lieberman.

An Israeli military statement was more circumspect, announcing an investigation into his killing. “The IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] does not intentionally fire on journalists. The circumstances in which journalists were hit, allegedly by IDF fire, are unknown to us and are being examined.”



Commissioned by NRC to document the protests, Murtaja, a 30-year-old photographer well known for his drone footage, never got to complete his project.

“I talked to Yasser on Wednesday evening by phone, after he came back from the Access Restricted Zone in Gaza where Palestinians were demonstrating,” said NRC’s media adviser in the Middle East, Karl Schembri.

“We talked about the stories we wanted to cover – families affected by violence, as well as children again exposed to trauma and their ensuing nightmares.

“Two days later, he was killed by an Israeli sniper while peacefully observing the demonstrations. He was killed doing his job: recording his people’s right to protest for their human rights.”

Jan Egeland, NRC’s secretary-general, added: “Yasser Murtaja was a civilian and a journalist who was wearing clear press identification while he was filming the demonstrations at the Gaza fence with Israel. He was there because he wanted to document civilians exercising their right to peacefully protest.”

The stories that NRC and Murtaja were working on focus on the impact of persistent violenceon the mental health and wellbeing of children in Gaza.

One of the cases documented by NRC is that of 14-year-old Reham. She was attending the Return March in Gaza with her mother, father, sister and two brothers on 30 March when her father was shot in the leg. Reham’s father may now need to have his leg amputated.

“The ongoing and unjustifiable border closure and extreme economic deprivation of civilians in Gaza amounts to nothing short of collective punishment,” said Egeland.

“And now the indiscriminate shooting at peaceful protesters on their land – while running away, while waving flags, while praying, while reporting, while giving first aid and while working on their land – is abominable. This cannot be allowed to continue, and those responsible must be held to account.”
Gazan journalists hold a protest against the shooting death of Yasser Murtaja at the border, which they face with their mouths taped shut.