A PALESTINIAN cameraman killed by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip last week may have been deliberately targeted, the campaign group Human Rights Watch said yesterday, as the death toll from the incident rose to six .
Two Palestinian teenagers, Ahmed al-Najjar and Bilal al-Dhaimi, died of wounds they sustained when tank shells sprayed Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana's pick-up with flachettes, or tiny darts, as he was filming last Wednesday. Three other bystanders
, aged between 13 and 22, were also killed.
Human Rights Watch said an on-site investigation over the weekend "found evidence suggesting that the tank crew fired recklessly or deliberately at the journalist's team".
Joe Stork, the group's Middle East director, said: "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."
Interviews with an eyewitness, a resident in a nearby village and a journalist who arrived just after the shelling, as well as Mr Shana's footage, indicated there was no military activity by Palestinian militants at the scene, according to Human Rights Watch.
Mr Stork said: "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 pick-up contained only journalists."
The Israeli army said troops did not deliberately target journalists. A spokeswoman said Mr Shana had been killed "in a warfare zone", adding: "When journalists enter a warfare zone, they take the risk they might get hurt."
Meanwhile, Israel forces yesterday carried out air strikes across the Gaza Strip, a day after members of Hamas's armed wing, Izzedin al-Qassam, detonated explosives-laden vehicles at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Israel said it had killed six Hamas fighters.
The full article contains 305 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
