Effcient direct heating of electrons by ion Bestein waves has been obtained on the HT-7 tokamak. Off-axis heating, which is considered to be the result of electron Landau damping, was observed and studied by means of soft x-ray imaging. The measured power deposition was found to be independent of magnetic field through scanning the toroidal field from 1.5 to 1.7 T, in contrast to the ion heating results. It is suggested that the electron Landau damping is dominant in this heating regime.