James Miller's body was being taken to the Israeli national forensic center in Jerusalem for an autopsy, the army said.
Miller, 34, a prize-winning documentary maker, was killed late Friday night in the southern Gaza city of Rafah while he and his crew were filming Israeli troops on an operation to find and destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels on the Egyptian border.
The local Foreign Press Association, the British Foreign Office and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders on Saturday called for investigations into Miller's death.
"We are asking for a swift and serious inquiry," Tami Allen-Frost, vice chairwoman of the local Foreign Press Association, told Israel radio Sunday. "The fact that we (journalists) take risks doesn't give general license to shoot at anything that moves. I think that in most cases the press can be identified and several incidents could have been prevented. "
Associated Press Television News footage showed the crew waving a white flag and yelling that they were British journalists as they approached an armored bulldozer conducting the operation. Witnesses said that an Israeli tank opened fire at the journalists, but the army denied there were tanks in the area.
Immediately after the shooting Friday night, the army said it returned fire after being attacked by rocket-propelled grenades. Col. Avi — the forces commander in the area, who would only be identified by his first name — said after the shooting stopped, troops heard cries for help in English and saw people holding a flag and Miller lying on the ground.
On Sunday, the Israeli army said that Miller was shot from behind, meaning it was possible that he was hit by Palestinian fire.
Veteran Israeli military analyst Ron Ben-Ishai said, however, that TV footage of the incident showed there was no exchange of fire at the time.
"Suddenly you hear a single shot," Ben-Ishai told Israeli radio. "A single shot that sounded very close."
The footage also showed that Miller could not be seen in the darkness, he said.
Daniel Seaman, director of Israel's Government Press Office, said journalists "should be aware that when they enter an area like that, a soldier is concerned with his own life."
"It's a split-second judgment, whether to shoot or not, " Seaman said. "I prefer that in situations like that they shoot, because I prefer that there not be a dead soldier. Journalists have a choice, they cannot be there. The soldier has to be there."
Ben-Ishai suggested that journalists in combat situations worldwide should be equipped with some kind of electronic device that could identify them to troops.
"There is a basic need, instead of the whining each time — with armies blaming the journalists and journalists blaming armies — to find some kind of technological means of identification," he said.
Miller, a 34-year-old prize-winning documentary maker, had worked for CNN, the British Broadcasting Corp., Britain's Channel 4 and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
He was the fourth foreigner and the second journalist to be injured or killed in the West Bank or Gaza in recent weeks.
Associated Press Television News cameraman Nazeh Darwazeh was killed on April 19 in the West Bank city of Nablus while filming clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians. Witnesses said Darwazeh was shot by an Israeli soldier taking cover behind an armored vehicle in an alley. The military insisted there were also Palestinian gunmen in the alley.
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