Gaza: Israel Clears Tank Crew Over Killing of Reuters Cameraman

The Israeli military will not take action against a tank crew that killed a Reuters television cameraman and eight other Palestinian civilians in Gaza and has defended the decision to shoot as "sound".

In a letter to the Reuters news agency, Israel's top military lawyer, Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit, said the troops involved in the shooting in April could not tell whether cameraman Fadel Shana, 24, was holding a camera or a weapon but nonetheless reached a "reasonable conclusion" that he was "hostile".

One of the reasons for the tank crew's suspicion, said Mendelblit, was that Shana and his soundman were wearing blue flak jackets, which the Israeli military lawyer said were "common to Palestinian terrorists". The jackets were marked with the word "PRESS" and were identical to those worn by journalists reporting on conflicts across the world. Shana's car also carried large "PRESS" and "TV" markings.

Shana was killed on a day of heavy fighting in Gaza that left 18 Palestinians, nearly all civilians, and three Israeli soldiers dead. Shana arrived shortly after a series of Israeli air strikes in a Gazan village and began filming. The last few seconds of his footage show an Israeli tank on a distant hilltop. There is a flash and a cloud of smoke as the tank fires a shell and moments later a second bright flash close to the camera as dark shapes come shooting out. The tape then goes black.

His body was hit by several inch-long metal flechette darts from the tank shell.

David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters, said yesterday he was disturbed by the decision. "I'm extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analysed clearly," he said. "They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response."

The decision came in a letter sent on Tuesday by Mendelblit, Israel's military advocate general. "The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera," he wrote.

He said the crew were suspicious partly because of the blue flak jackets, and because of an attack that killed three Israeli troops earlier in the day elsewhere in Gaza and because of a separate grenade attack on a tank. "In light of the reasonable conclusion reached by the tank crew and its superiors that the characters were hostile and were carrying an object most likely to be a weapon, the decision to fire at the targets ... was sound," he wrote.

"Fadel Shana's death is a tragedy ... A journalist in action was killed by IDF [Israel defense Force] fire, along with others not involved in the hostilities. However ... the available evidence does not suggest misconduct or criminal misbehavior ... I have therefore decided ... that no further legal measures will be taken."

Reuters sent a letter back yesterday asking why the soldiers ruled out the possibility that Shana was indeed a cameraman and why the tank crew did not simply reverse out of sight.

The Foreign Press Association in Tel Aviv said it was dismayed. "The IDF's decision to close its probe without taking any disciplinary action is the latest in a long line of cases clearing its soldiers of deadly negligence," it said. "The FPA believes the army is obligated to clearly identify its targets before firing, especially in areas where civilians and journalists are present."