Briton shot dead in Gaza

A number of foreigners have been shot

An award-winning British journalist has been shot dead by Israeli soldiers as he filmed a documentary in a refugee area in Gaza.

Cameraman James Miller suffered fatal injuries after an Israeli armoured vehicle opened fire, wounding him in the neck, according to reports.

Mr Miller had been filming house demolitions in Palestinian areas while working on a documentary for the American HBO network.

Another Briton, who also said he was a journalist, said that he, Mr Miller and two colleagues had been filming and waving a white flag as they moved towards the tank when it fired the shots, AP said.

The Israeli army said the armoured vehicle had been trying to find tunnels used for smuggling weapons and returned fire after being shot at with rocket-propelled grenades.

Army spokesman Jacob Dalal said: "The Israeli military expresses sorrow at a civilian death, but it must be stressed that a cameraman who knowingly enters a combat zone, especially at night, endangers himself."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a British journalist has been shot. We are in touch with the Israeli authorities and we are in the process of getting in touch with next of kin."

A spokeswoman for HBO said they had received no official confirmation of the death, but added: "It's devastating news."

Rafah is on the southern border with Egypt and is a site of frequent gun battles between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants.

Mr Miller won international acclaim for his documentary work.

This included Beneath the Veil, about life under the Taleban, which won Royal Television Society awards, and the Channel 4 programme Innocents Lost, an Emmy-winning investigation into human rights abuses against children throughout the world.

Other shootings

On Friday, the Israeli foreign ministry announced plans to crack down on international "human shield" volunteers who have attempted to prevent demolitions.

They started by detaining a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Rafah.

A British peace activist with the ISM was shot in the head by an Israeli tank in Rafah last month.

Thomas Hurndall, 22, was believed to have been among a group of nine activists who had to abandon their planned protest at a refugee camp in Rafah when shooting started.

Two other peace activists were also wounded last month and a 23-year-old American was killed in March.