Rights group: IDF may have fired at cameraman intentionally

Human Rights Watch said its own investigation suggests that an Israeli tank crew fired either recklessly or deliberately at Fadel Shana and three others standing near him on Wednesday. At the time, there were battles between Israeli forces and militants, but the cameraman wasn't close to fighting, the New York-based group said in a statement.

Shana, a 23-year-old cameraman for the Reuters news agency, was the first Gaza journalist to be killed in the territory in the past eight years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

Reporters attended his wake in Gaza City on Saturday.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said earlier this week it has collected evidence that Shana was killed by a so-called flechette tank shell that spewed tiny darts over a wide radius.

Reuters has released Shana's final video, which showed a tank on a distant hilltop open fire. About a second later, the picture turns black. Shana was wearing a bulletproof jacket marked with "Press" at the time and his vehicle was also marked with "TV" signs.

"Israeli soldiers did not make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing," said Joe Stork, from Human Rights Watch. "There is evidence suggesting they actually targeted the journalists."

Israel's army has said it is looking into Shana's death, but will continue to use flechette shells. Rights groups say the weapon is inappropriate for densely populated areas like the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, reporters plastered their cars with pictures of Shana holding his camera and drove through Gaza City in a convoy, despite fuel shortages that have paralyzed most movement in the territory.

Eight other journalists have been killed covering the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1992, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.