Israeli Army Fires on Journalists: Israeli Army Fires on Hotel Where Journalists Were Filming Assault on Al-Amari Refugee Camp

RAMALLAH, West Bank March 12 — Israeli forces fired for 10 to 15 minutes from tank-mounted machine guns on a hotel where journalists were photographing armor targeting the al-Amari refugee camp early Tuesday.

No one was injured in the shooting, which sprayed the glass-enclosed stairwell and nearby rooms where about 40 journalists were working. An ABC television camera left running on a tripod when the journalists took cover was hit by seven bullets one directly in the lens.

The army said the tanks were returning fire from a gunman located somewhere on the upper floors of the hotel and that they were unaware journalists were working from the building. "It was dark," a spokesperson said. An investigation was continuing, the army said.

The reporters said there were no gunmen in the four-story New City Inn, where about 40 television and photo journalists covering the army assault on al-Amari were working from the upper floors.