Human Rights Watch: “Israeli tank fired deliberately or recklessly at Reuters cameraman.”
Several dozen journalists gathered in Ramallah
to protest against Shana's killing[AFP]
The Israeli military has said it will investigate the death of a Palestinian cameraman killed during heavy clashes in the Gaza Strip.
The announcement on Sunday came as Human Rights Watch said Fadel Shana may have been deliberately targeted by an Israeli tank crew last Wednesday.
The group said its on-site investigation had indicated that the crew fired "recklessly or deliberately" at the Reuters news agency cameraman and his soundman.
Shana and Wafa Abu Mizyed had been travelling in a vehicle clearly marked as belonging to media workers when they came under attack.
Israeli denial However, the Israeli military has strongly denied that the camera crew was deliberately targeted...
Shana's final piece of footage showed an Israeli tank firing a shell just before the camera went black. Other journalists who arrived at the scene shortly after the shelling also said they came under tank fire.
Clearly marked
"The Reuters truck was clearly marked 'TV' and 'Press' and drove by the tank twice, so it's hard to believe the Israeli tank crew didn't see the pickup contained only journalists," Stork said.
The vehicle the cameraman was travelling in
was clearly marked [AFP]
Shana's protective vest, which also had a blue-on-white "Press" marking, was ripped off by the attack, which medical examination showed had thrust several 38-mm metal darts, known as flechettes, through his neck severing his spine.
Two more Palestinian teenagers wounded in the attack died of their injuries on Sunday raising the death toll from the incident to six people, according to medics.
About 20 Palestinians had died in clashes with the Israeli military on the day of the incident, many of them civilians, after fighters had earlier killed three Israeli soldiers.
Several dozen journalists marched through the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, led by a group carrying a stretcher with a camera and a tripod to protest against Shana's killing.
They carried a banner reading: "The occupiers are responsible for the blood of our colleague."
Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch's Middle East director, said in a statement: "Israeli soldiers did not make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing, and there is evidence suggesting they actually targeted the journalists."
