Israelis urged to quickly release findings of probe into shelling of Palestinian TV cameraman

There are signs that an Israeli tank crew committed a “serious criminal error” when it fired a shell that killed Fadel Shanaa, 23, a Palestinian cameraman employed by the British news agency Reuters, as he was filming an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip on 16 April, Reporters Without Borders said today. Shanaa's soundman, Wafa Abu Mizyed, was injured in the shelling, which the Israeli authorities have said they are investigating. “The statements of witnesses and the evidence at the scene disturbingly indicate that a serious criminal error was committed by Israeli soldiers,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Shanaa and Abu Mizyed were in an open area. No building obstructed the tank crew's view and the journalists' vehicle was marked with ‘TV' in big letters. They also had ‘TV' on their vests. They were not near any military target and were being followed by children from the nearby Al-Barij refugee camp. So the tank crew was not acting in legitimate self-defence.” The press freedom organisation added: “An investigation is essential to determine the exact circumstances of the incident and the findings must be published as quickly as possible. The Israeli military's responsibility must be clearly established and sanctions must be taken against those who fired the shot. Israeli soldiers guilty of criminal negligence or deliberately firing at journalists have in the past be exonerated by their superiors. This must nor recur.” Reporters Without Borders also condemns Israel's used of fragmentation weapons in areas where civilians, including journalists, are present. Shanaa and Abu Mizyed were wearing bullet-proof vests that were not designed for the steel fragments released by the exploding Israeli shell. They were about 1 kilometre from the Israeli tank they were filming. “We got out of the car to film the overall scene,” Abu Mizyed said. “Fadel was asking me to get the children following us to move away when the shell hit. I was thrown several metres. An ambulance took us to a hospital but Fadel died on the way. He was hit in the neck and chest.” Other journalists on the scene said there had been no exchange of shots during the 15 minutes before the fatal shell was fired.