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dpa
Tel Aviv/Gaza City
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected criticism of an Israeli airstrike targeting a high-rise building housing foreign media offices in the Gaza strip.
The building hosted an “intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization [Hamas]” which “plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians,” Netanyahu told US broadcaster CBS on Sunday.
“So it’s a perfectly legitimate target,” he added.
Israel had warned those present in the building before launching the attack, Netanyahu argued.
“We are targeting a terrorist organization that is targeting our civilians and hiding behind them, using them as human shields,” he said.
The al-Jala tower, which housed offices of the US news agency Associated Press (AP) and the Qatari television station Al Jazeera, among others, was destroyed by an Israeli air force attack on Saturday.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel and the Palestinian Territories had earlier questioned Israel’s commitment to a free press after the destruction of the building. It said in a statement on Sunday that the decision to destroy the building during the fighting between Israel and Hamas “raises deeply worrying questions about Israel’s willingness to interfere with the freedom of the press to operate.”
“We note that Israel has not presented any evidence to support its claim the building was used by Hamas,” a letter from the association said.
The association said it had asked for a meeting with Israeli officials over the incident. The FPA says it has 480 members who work for international media.
The international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the attack on the building, with executive director Christian Mihr saying that it hadn’t been justified no matter if Hamas was using it or not.
Tel Aviv/Gaza City
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected criticism of an Israeli airstrike targeting a high-rise building housing foreign media offices in the Gaza strip.
The building hosted an “intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization [Hamas]” which “plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians,” Netanyahu told US broadcaster CBS on Sunday.
“So it’s a perfectly legitimate target,” he added.
Israel had warned those present in the building before launching the attack, Netanyahu argued.
“We are targeting a terrorist organization that is targeting our civilians and hiding behind them, using them as human shields,” he said.
The al-Jala tower, which housed offices of the US news agency Associated Press (AP) and the Qatari television station Al Jazeera, among others, was destroyed by an Israeli air force attack on Saturday.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel and the Palestinian Territories had earlier questioned Israel’s commitment to a free press after the destruction of the building. It said in a statement on Sunday that the decision to destroy the building during the fighting between Israel and Hamas “raises deeply worrying questions about Israel’s willingness to interfere with the freedom of the press to operate.”
“We note that Israel has not presented any evidence to support its claim the building was used by Hamas,” a letter from the association said.
The association said it had asked for a meeting with Israeli officials over the incident. The FPA says it has 480 members who work for international media.
The international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also condemned the attack on the building, with executive director Christian Mihr saying that it hadn’t been justified no matter if Hamas was using it or not.
