A few weeks ago there was a big deal made over a Reuters photographer that was fired because of a few fake photos. Suddenly bloggers with a lot of free time on their hands started doing their own professional photoshop investigations, much to my amusement. Well Reuters has just paid for it in Gaza. The following images (and story) are real…

GAZA (Reuters) - The missile struck the “P” of the bright red “PRESS” sign on the roof of the armor-plated Reuters car as Gaza cameraman Fadel Shana hurried to film an Israeli raid. Shana saw only a sheet of flame and the doors of the vehicle fly open.

He regained consciousness in hospital on Sunday, hours after the missile strike, with shrapnel wounds in his right hand and leg. He could not hear in one ear because of the explosion. His eyes were swollen and red…

“This car was not identified by the army as a press vehicle,” said army spokeswoman Captain Noa Meir. “If journalists were hurt, we regret it.” [story] [video]

From the BBC…

The Reuters armoured car was clearly labelled as a media vehicle, with signs on all sides, including the roof. According to the Associated Press, the white sports utility vehicle was emblazoned with the Reuters logo and had “TV” and “Press” written on it in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

The front seats of the car were covered in blood, much of the inside of the vehicle was torn by shrapnel and one of the bullet-proof windows was completely destroyed, the agency says.