Reuters seeks answers from Israel over killing
LONDON (Reuters) – Two months after an Israeli tank shell killed one of its cameramen in the Gaza Strip, Reuters has urged the army to release immediately the findings of its internal investigation in the interests of journalists’ safety.
Fadel Shana, a 24-year-old Palestinian, was killed on April 16, along with eight bystanders aged from 12 to 20, by darts known as flechettes that burst from a tank shell in mid-air. Shana was filming about 1.5 km (a mile) from two Israeli tanks.
The London-based news agency has commissioned an independent report into the incident which found there was no fighting or militant activity in the immediate area where Shana was working in view of the tanks, about 100 meters (yards) from a busy road.
No other casualty in the attack, in which a tank fired two flechette shells, was armed. Shana, whose car and body amour bore “Press” markings, filmed from a tripod for some minutes before his camera recorded the fatal shell being fired.
The Israeli army has yet to offer an account but has said its soldiers followed their orders and did nothing wrong. While cautioning journalists that they work in conflict zones at their own risk, the army said it aims to avoid killing journalists.
Reuters has written to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to ask how, in that case, the troops failed to identify Shana as a cameraman — nor other victims as children and other civilians.
“We have a duty to our employees and their families to determine exactly what happened on that day, both to establish the exact cause of Fadel’s death and to identify any action we can take to improve the safety of Reuters News staff on assignment in hostile environments,” Reuters Middle East Managing Editor Mark Thompson wrote last week.
“The IDF has had plenty of time to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of Shana,” Thompson wrote.
Among questions Reuters has asked the IDF’s senior law officer was what specific information led the soldiers to dismiss the possibility that Shana was a television cameraman.
CHECKING
Army spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovich said: “We are in the process of checking a few more details in order to complete the picture. As soon as we have the conclusions we will share them.”
The delay in clarifying Shana’s death has made it difficult for media groups to set guidelines for staff in Gaza on how to avoid a repeat, creating problems in turn for coverage of army activity in the Palestinian enclave. On Monday, Gaza journalists plan to demonstrate in protest at the lack of an explanation.
Media groups operating in the Palestinian enclave have been urging the Israeli military to improve troops’ awareness of the presence of journalists and to coordinate where possible.
Rejecting a request that IDF officers relay information to field commanders from journalists about their movements in Gaza to avoid media crews being inadvertently targeted, the army said in a statement last month: “There will be no coordination of press movement and activity in the areas of IDF operations”.
The report commissioned by Reuters found that Shana observed safety guidelines and took all reasonable precautions.
(Editing by Ralph Boulton)
Desertpeace 
Hans Schneider said,
June 15, 2008 at 16:12
The brave and well trained Israely Army fighting terrorism wherever they see it…
gmathol said,
June 15, 2008 at 23:19
IDF – is a gang of murderers and cowards payed by US taxpayers.