Published: 12 April 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Slain Gaza journalist, branded Hamas militant by Israel, received US grant (Haaretz)
State Department says $11,700 USAID grant to a firm co-founded by Yaser Murtaja was vetted. Israel's defence chief says Murtaja was on the group's payroll, providing no evidence.
Yaser Murtaja was shot last Friday while covering a mass demonstration near the Israeli border. He was carrying a video camera and wearing a flak jacket marked with the word "press" when he was shot.
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters on Tuesday that Murtaja had been on the Hamas payroll since 2011 and held a rank similar to captain. He said Murtaja had used a drone to collect intelligence on Israeli forces along the border. Lieberman provided no evidence to support his claims.
Air force strikes Gaza as rocket sirens ring throughout Israeli towns (Times of Israel)
Airstrike come after Palestinians detonate explosive device near IDF vehicle; army says it holds Hamas responsible for all security incidents
Army clears sniper filmed shooting Gazan, denounces cameraman (Times of Israel)
The Israeli army on Tuesday said a soldier who shot a Palestinian suspect near the Gaza border in a recently circulated video behaved appropriately but criticised the soldier who filmed and cheered the incident for violating military values.
The army said the cameraman, who was not part of the unit serving on the border, would face a disciplinary hearing.
According to the army’s initial investigation, the video was filmed on December 22 during a violent demonstration along the Gaza border, near the Israeli community of Kibbutz Kissufim.
The army said the Palestinian who was shot was one of the people “suspected of organising and leading” the violence along the border, which included the throwing of rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Gazan who says was shot in Israeli sniper video denies posing threat (Daily Mail)
Photo: Palestinian journalists carry a portrait of journalist Yasser Murtaja, during his funeral in Gaza City on April 7 (AFP/Mahmud Hams)
