Gaza death film maker's family sue

The family of an award-winning British film maker shot dead in Gaza are beginning their civil action against the Israeli government.

At a preliminary hearing in Tel Aviv, documentary evidence relating to the death of James Miller will be submitted as part of the family's attempt to "settle both our demands for justice and to some extent recompense our loss".

Mr Miller, 34, was making a documentary about Palestinian children in the Rafah refugee camp when he was gunned down by a soldier from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in May 2003.

His group of British journalists claimed they were carrying a white flag and had told troops who they were. But a soldier opened fire, hitting the father-of-two from Braunton, Devon, in the neck.

His frustrated family vowed to "vigorously" pursue a legal conclusion noting the case has not been settled despite an "assurance from the highest Israeli government level".

They will not be travelling to Israel for the scheduling hearing at which both sides will submit their documentary evidence to Judge Orenstein. A second hearing is expected to take place in three months.

In a statement the Miller family said: "We agreed to an adjournment of the court hearing scheduled for last May 13 on the basis of an assurance from the highest Israeli Government level that we would receive an offer that would settle both our demands for justice and to some extent recompense our loss.

"As has been the case of previous assurances proffered throughout the past five years, this assurance had no substance and despite Israeli press announcements claiming that agreement had been reached, we have not yet received an official offer and the case is no closer to reaching a conclusion."

They are calling for a full and proper investigation into the circumstances surrounding the killing. They have also repeatedly argued that this should be a full and impartial process that leads to the identification and trial of the soldier involved.

To date no-one has been held accountable. Mr Miller posthumously won the Rory Peck Award for his unfinished final film, Death In Gaza.