By Xinhua,
Gaza : A couple hundred Palestinian journalists on Thursday bid farewell to their Reuters colleague who was killed a day ago while filming Israeli shelling in Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday afternoon, Faddel Ouda Shana’a, 24, who worked for Reuters as a cameraman, was killed in artillery shelling of the Israeli army in Johr el-diek area in southeast Gaza city.
One of the four artillery shells has landed a few meters away from Shanaa’s car, killing the journalist in addition to two bystanders. Nine other Palestinians were also killed in the area during the shelling which took place in a period of 20 minutes.
The journalists gathered in front of the morgue at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital. They hugged each other and cried in grief while waiting the body to come out. Some of Fadel’s close friends were in shock though they were used to experience such situations.
A number of colleagues finally came out of the morgue, carrying the dead body on a stretcher and chanting religious slogans. The stretcher was put on the ground to let the journalists see the body before proceeding. Fadel’s damaged camera and flack jacket were carried on another stretcher that accompanied the funeral.
The journalists, accompanied by representatives of political groups and human rights activists, walked to Gaza city downtown and stopped again in front of al-Shoroq building where Reuters bureau locates. After that, the body was transported to Fadel’s resting place in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza Strip.