JERUSALEM, April 20, 2008 (WAFA) - Human Rights Watch said on Sunday that Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana'a killed by tank fire in the Gaza Strip along with three other civilians this week may have been deliberately targeted by Israeli Occupation Forces(IOF).

The group said its on-site investigation of Wednesday's death of Fadel Shana'a, 23, indicated an Israeli tank crew fired 'recklessly or deliberately' at the Reuters news agency cameraman and his soundman.

'Israeli soldiers did not make sure they were aiming at a military target before firing, and there is evidence suggesting they actually targeted the journalists,' Joe Stork, HRW's Middle East director, said in a statement.

Shana'a was travelling in a pickup truck with his soundman Wafa Abu Mizyed, who told HRW that they had passed by an Israeli tank on a hilltop and then stopped to film the surrounding area.

Shana'a, wearing a flak jacket marked 'Press' in large letters 'set up his camera and the tripod and asked me to push away some children who had gathered around us,' Abu Mizyed told HRW, adding that there was no shooting in the area at the time.

'The Reuters truck was clearly marked 'TV' and 'Press' and drove by the tank twice, so it's hard to believe the Israeli tank crew didn't see the pickup contained only journalists,' Stork said.

HRW urged Israel to launch an independent investigation into the killings. IOF spokeswoman said a formal inquiry would probably be announced soon.