17″ 2021″ Associated Press And Aljazeera “
Rights groups urged the International Criminal Court to determine whether Israeli air strikes that destroyed a Gaza building housing media outlets constituted war a crime.
Israeli missiles flattened the 13-storey al-Jalaa tower in Gaza City, which housed Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network and American news agency The Associated Press on Saturday.
Israel claimed the building housed not only news bureaus but an office of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military gave the building’s owner an hour to evacuate before attacking and bringing it down on live television.
“Deliberately targeting media outlets constitutes a war crime,” press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement.
“By intentionally destroying media outlets, the Israel Defence Forces are not only inflicting unacceptable material damage on news operations, they are also more broadly obstructing media coverage of a conflict that directly affects the civilian population.”
Deloire added: “We call on the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to determine whether these air strikes constitute war crimes.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday he has not yet seen any evidence supporting Israel’s claim that Hamas operated in the building. Blinken said he pressed Israel for justification for the brazen attack.
Pattern of collective punishment’
Saleh Hijazi, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera Israel was trying to hide what it was doing in Gaza and to the people of Gaza, adding that Amnesty has been prevented from entering the enclave since 2012.
“We now have an International Criminal Court investigation open on the situation in the Palestinian territories since 2014. We call on the ICC to look into this incident,” he said, referring to the bombing of international media offices by Israeli forces.
“Even if there is a legitimate military target there, it is disproportionate to attack a building in such a manner,” Hijazi added.
“Such a disproportionate attack amounts to war crime. In addition, this follows a pattern of collective punishment against the Palestinian people in Gaza
Independent look’
Meanwhile, The Associated Press’ top editor called for an independent investigation into the Israeli air strike, saying the public deserves to know the facts.
Sally Buzbee, AP’s executive editor, said on Sunday the Israeli government has yet to provide clear evidence supporting its attack, which completely levelled the al-Jalaa Tower.
“We are in a conflict situation,” Buzbee said. “We do not take sides in that conflict. We heard Israelis say they have evidence, we don’t know what that evidence is. We think it’s appropriate at this point for there to be an independent look at what happened yesterday – an independent investigation.”
Top AP Editor, Journalist Group Call for Inquiry into Israeli Airstrike
The top editor at the Associated Press on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the Israeli airstrike that targeted and destroyed a Gaza City building housing the AP, broadcaster Al-Jazeera and other media, saying the public deserves to know the facts.
Separately, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s bombing of a building housing the media organizations as a possible war crime.
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Sally Buzbee, AP’s executive editor, said the Israeli government has yet to provide clear evidence supporting its attack, which leveled the 12-story al-Jalaa tower.
The Israeli military, which gave AP journalists and other tenants about an hour to evacuate, claimed Hamas used the building for a military intelligence office and weapons development. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Israel was compiling evidence for the U.S. but declined to commit to providing it within the next two days.
“We’re in the middle of fighting,” Conricus said Sunday. “That’s in process and I’m sure in due time that information will be presented.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would share any evidence of Hamas’ presence in the targeted building through intelligence channels. But neither the White House nor the State Department would say if any American official had seen it.
Gaza Diary: Shouts, a Hurried Evacuation, and Then the Bombs CameAP journalist details the destruction of the building housing his offices
Buzbee said the AP has had offices in al-Jalaa tower for 15 years and never was informed or had any indication that Hamas might be in the building. She said the facts must be laid out.
“We are in a conflict situation,” Buzbee said. “We do not take sides in that conflict. We heard Israelis say they have evidence; we don’t know what that evidence is.”
“We think it’s appropriate at this point for there to be an independent look at what happened yesterday — an independent investigation,” she added.
In remarks Sunday, Netanyahu repeated Israel’s claim that the building housed an intelligence office of Hamas. Asked if he had relayed supporting evidence of that in a call with President Joe Biden on Saturday, Netanyahu said that “we pass it through our intelligence people.”
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, said in a letter to the court’s chief prosecutor that the offices of 23 international and local media organizations have been destroyed over the past six days.
RSF said it had strong reason to believe that the Israeli military’s “intentional targeting of media organizations and intentional destruction of their equipment” could violate one of the court’s statues. It said the attacks serve “to reduce, if not neutralize, the media’s capacity to inform the public.”
RSF asked the international court, based in the Dutch city of The Hague, to include the recent attacks in a war crimes probe opened in March into Israel’s practices in Palestinian territories.
Buzbee said the AP journalists were shaken after the airstrike but are doing fine and reporting the news. She expressed concern about the impact on news coverage.
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“This does impact the world’s right to know what is happening on both sides of the conflict in real time,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone Saturday with AP’s president and CEO, Gary Pruitt. The State Department said Blinken offered “his unwavering support for independent journalists and media organizations around the world and noted the indispensability of their reporting in conflict zones.”
Buzbee and Conricus spoke on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” and Netanyahu was on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
