GAZA (Reuters) - A medical examination showed on Thursday that metal darts from an Israeli tank shell that explodes in the air caused the death of a Reuters cameraman killed a day earlier in the Gaza Strip, doctors said.
X-rays displayed by physicians who examined the body of Fadel Shana in Gaza's Shifa hospital showed several of the controversial weapons, known as flechettes, embedded in the 23-year-old Palestinian's chest and legs.
Several of the 3 cm (1 inch)-long darts were also found in Shana's flak jacket, emblazoned with a florescent "Press" sign, and in his vehicle, an unarmoured sport utility vehicle bearing "TV" and "Press" markings.
Shana was covering events in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for Reuters on a day of intense violence when 16 other Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were also killed.
"The evidence from the medical examination underlines the importance of a swift, honest and impartial investigation by the Israel Defence Forces and by the government," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters News.
"The markings on Fadel Shana's vehicle showed clearly and unambiguously that he was a professional journalist doing his duty. We and the military must work together urgently to understand why this tragedy took place and how similar incidents can be avoided in the future," Schlesinger added.
Several hundred people, mainly local journalists, marched in Shana's funeral procession on Thursday. His body was draped in a Palestinian flag and his shattered camera and flak jacket were borne aloft on a separate stretcher.
Two youths passing by died in the same explosion that killed Shana, witnesses said. The cameraman had stepped from his car to film an Israeli tank dug in several hundred metres (yards) away.
Reuters soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, 25, sustained a shrapnel wound in the incident.
Dr. Yunes Ramadan Awadallah, one of the physicians who examined Shana's body, said he suffered multiple lacerations from projectiles, some of which appeared to have entered his chest through his neck and shoulder, severing his spinal cord.
Asked about the information that an Israeli flechette shell had killed Shana, an Israeli military spokeswoman said: "The Israel Defence Forces do not, as a rule, comment on the weapons they use. But its weapons are legal under international law.
"Flechettes are legal under international law and a petition filed in the (Israeli) Supreme Court against their use was rejected," she added.
RULING
Rejecting a petition in 2003 by Israel's Physicians for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the court said a 1980 U.N. convention on restricting the use of conventional weapons that cause excessive injury did not prohibit those with "sub-ammunition such as flechette shells".
Video from Shana's camera showed the tank opening fire. Two seconds after the shot raises dust around its gun, the tape goes blank -- seemingly at the moment Shana was hit.
A frame-by-frame examination of the tape shows the shell exploding in the air and dark shapes shooting out from it.
"This tragic incident shows the risks journalists take every day to report the news. All governments and organisations have a responsibility to take the utmost care to protect professionals trying to do their jobs," Schlesinger said.
There was no word from the Israeli military on Thursday on whether it would launch an investigation.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, Major Avital Leibovich, said there had been clashes in area throughout Wednesday after the three Israeli troops had been killed there overnight.
A military official said: "We wish to express sorrow for the death of the Palestinian cameraman ... It should be emphasised that the area in which the cameraman was hurt is an area in which ongoing fighting against armed, extreme and dangerous terrorist organisations occurs on a daily basis.
"The presence of media, photographers and other uninvolved individuals in areas of warfare is extremely dangerous and poses a threat to their lives."
Shana, who was unmarried, was a gentle and popular figure among the 15-strong Reuters news team in the Gaza Strip. The bureau was honoured by Britain's Royal Television Society for its coverage of last year's factional fighting in Gaza.
Journalists have become casualties on numerous occasions in the Palestinian territories. Media watchdogs estimate that nine have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 2000.
An Israeli soldier shot a Reuters photographer in the leg in Gaza in October. Two Reuters journalists were wounded by an Israeli tank shell in the enclave in 2003.
Also in 2003, one of the most widely renowned Palestinian journalists to work for Reuters, television cameraman Mazen Dana, was shot dead by a U.S. soldier in Baghdad. Six other Reuters journalists have been killed in that conflict.
(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
When you run around with a camera in a war zone you are taking a huge risk. I remember an episode in Baghdad when a cameraman on a roof stuck his camera over a ledge, which looks like an RPG to a soldier on alert, and was blasted as a result.
I don't know the circumstances of this incident, but there is a certain element of personal responsibility when you enter a war zone.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
"Asked about the many civilian casualties, Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli Army spokeswoman, said the military had struck an armed group. “It could be that civilians were nearby; it would not be the first time,” she said.
"Amid the violence, Israel resumed the pumping of emergency fuel supplies into Gaza after a weeklong suspension. The flow stopped on April 9 after Palestinian militant groups attacked the sole fuel depot on Israel’s border with Gaza, killing two Israeli civilians who worked there."
Ahh, Israeli army lobbing rockets at everything that moves and Hamas provoking Israel to shut off the fuel supply to keep the Palestinians in miserable conditions.
"Asked about the many civilian casualties, Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli Army spokeswoman, said the military had struck an armed group. “It could be that civilians were nearby; it would not be the first time,” she said.
"Amid the violence, Israel resumed the pumping of emergency fuel supplies into Gaza after a weeklong suspension. The flow stopped on April 9 after Palestinian militant groups attacked the sole fuel depot on Israel’s border with Gaza, killing two Israeli civilians who worked there."
Ahh, Israeli army lobbing rockets at everything that moves and Hamas provoking Israel to shut off the fuel supply to keep the Palestinians in miserable conditions.
Great job everyone, great job.
Don't worry, Jimmy Carter will take care of everything. *sarcasm*
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
format_quote Originally Posted by Keltoi
Don't worry, Jimmy Carter will take care of everything. *sarcasm*
Though you were trying to be sarcastic, peace can't be achieved until Hamas is brought onto the table. Why is recognizing Israel such a big deal to the Americans anyway? Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and almost every Islamic country in the world doesn't recognize Israel but when Hamas chooses a similar view point, it is SO WRONG! I think peace still can be achieved even if Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. Though rockets got to stop.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Stephen Hawking
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
format_quote Originally Posted by hmmm5
Though you were trying to be sarcastic, peace can't be achieved until Hamas is brought onto the table. Why is recognizing Israel such a big deal to the Americans anyway? Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and almost every Islamic country in the world doesn't recognize Israel but when Hamas chooses a similar view point, it is SO WRONG! I think peace still can be achieved even if Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. Though rockets got to stop.
It doesn't matter whether Pakistan, Malaysia or SA recognizes Israel or not, they aren't directly involved with the situation. Hamas is directly involved and are largely responsible for the continuation of this conflict. If there is going to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians, it will have to come through recognition of Israel's right to exist...otherwise the conflict will continue.
"Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is."
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
format_quote Originally Posted by hmmm5
Though you were trying to be sarcastic, peace can't be achieved until Hamas is brought onto the table. Why is recognizing Israel such a big deal to the Americans anyway? Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and almost every Islamic country in the world doesn't recognize Israel but when Hamas chooses a similar view point, it is SO WRONG! I think peace still can be achieved even if Hamas refuses to recognize Israel.
As Keltoi said it is not necessary that those countries recognise Israel, while it is necessary that Hamas does, at least as long as they remain necessary 'players' in any peace process. If Hamas does not recognise that the State of Israel exists it is not only politically impossible but also logically impossible for them to reach any agreement with it. It's therefore pointless "bringing them to the table" unless recognition of Israel is at least on the agenda.
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
Flechette rounds explode over a wide area. They dont guide themselves away from flurecent jackets.
Gator, the Israelis are running around shooting at everything that moves? Did they run out of ammo after 18 bullets?
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
Ok. look at the mid foreground at the trench. It zigzags in the field in front of the buildings.
The tank fired an airburst which is the greenish flash just before the tape ends.This would have shredded the gunmen crouched in the trench.It also spreads its shrapnel and flechettes outwards.
The shell clearly bursts in the last few frames above the target.
This poor guy, stood in the open filming, got hit over 90 meters from the target.
Reveiw the tape yourself and check it out.
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
format_quote Originally Posted by Keltoi
It doesn't matter whether Pakistan, Malaysia or SA recognizes Israel or not, they aren't directly involved with the situation. Hamas is directly involved and are largely responsible for the continuation of this conflict. If there is going to be peace between Israel and the Palestinians, it will have to come through recognition of Israel's right to exist...otherwise the conflict will continue.
Well, Israel has to stop it's settlements as well. It got an "F" in that area.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
- Stephen Hawking
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
format_quote Originally Posted by Muezzin
So, surely, flechette rounds should not be used. Talk about a sledgehammer to crack a nut...
Muez, I was a soldier. I know the risks of assaulting a trenchline.
If you are receiving gunfire from a position, you do not "Fight fair and with honour" by drawing sabers and charging at them. You just take them out with a airbust.
I was Artillery myself, so I know the amount of target recognition and clearence to fire needed. The Israeli army has similar ROE, (wether it sticks to em , i dont know).
Looking at that vidio from a proffesional's veiwpoint, I see a military position, well dug in, a tank on the hill opposite and a cameraman in the open directly behind.
Any attempt to put this particular incident as an example of Jewish callous- slaughter fails on every level possible.
If Flechette rounds should be banned then so should high explosive, and then, because people might get hurt, so should rifles, then can we get rid of rocks please because they might get thrown. It dosn't work. War is a horrible deverstating foul thing. Trying to sanitise it by equiping everyone with swords wont work. It never did.
Perhaps some rogue Israeli troops have indeed delibertly killed palastinian civilians. I have never met them to get a measure of what they are like. I however ask why, if genocide is their game, why is there a single palastinian still alive?
In this instance , no its not a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It's a poor foolish reporter standing in the line of fire between a Tank and a trenchline, thinking that a body armour protects against flechettes.
Last edited by barney; 04-18-2008 at 10:15 PM.
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
Re: Gaza doctors say Israeli shell killed Reuters cameraman
Look, the tank was on a hill, they saw a bunch of guys (other voices on the tape) standing in the open and one had something on his shoulder (the camera).
The tank decided to take them out. They really didn't care who it was.
Israel's military debates use of flechette round
Steve Rodan, Jane's Defence Weekly, 22 May 2001
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) is using tank-fired flechette anti-personnel rounds in its conflict with Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Military sources told Jane's Defence Weekly that the IDF is divided about the employment of the round, with some officers arguing that the shell is effective against certain targets while others warn of an international backlash.
The IDF is using a modified version of the M494 105mm APERS-T round provided by the USA in the 1970s. According to a US Army manual, the round is "designed for close-in assault against massed infantry assaults and for offensive fire against exposed enemy personnel".
In IDF service the M494 is fitted with the Reshef Technologies OMEGA M127 electronic fuze which is set before the round is fired. At the set range the forward section of the M494 round ruptures releasing approximately 5,000 small flechette darts and a dye marker. The flechettes are dispersed in a cone-shaped pattern which is 300m long and about 94m wide.
Israel's military debates use of flechette round
Steve Rodan, Jane's Defence Weekly, 22 May 2001
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) is using tank-fired flechette anti-personnel rounds in its conflict with Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Military sources told Jane's Defence Weekly that the IDF is divided about the employment of the round, with some officers arguing that the shell is effective against certain targets while others warn of an international backlash.
The IDF is using a modified version of the M494 105mm APERS-T round provided by the USA in the 1970s. According to a US Army manual, the round is "designed for close-in assault against massed infantry assaults and for offensive fire against exposed enemy personnel".
In IDF service the M494 is fitted with the Reshef Technologies OMEGA M127 electronic fuze which is set before the round is fired. At the set range the forward section of the M494 round ruptures releasing approximately 5,000 small flechette darts and a dye marker. The flechettes are dispersed in a cone-shaped pattern which is 300m long and about 94m wide.
Take another look and freeze the film just before the end. You will see the airburst.
It's up to you, but I'm fairly knowlagable about explosives and if you dont buy the trench just pretend that it's not on the film.
Occupation: The term of control of a territory by foreign military forces: Iraq 2003-2005 Liberation:when something or someone is freed: Operation Telic 2003
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