Israel Bombs Media Stations in Gaza

The 12-floor Al-jalaal tower that was razed by Israel airstrikes

The French-based international journalists defender Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), said the Israel military carried out targeted attacks on over 20 media outlets, in what appears to be a campaign to stop the media from covering war attrocities committed by the Israelis from reaching the international community.

RAF has asked the International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor to say whether or not the airstrikes by Israel on media stations constitute war crimes.

In a statement on its website, RSF said: “Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to include Israeli air strikes on more than 20 media outlets in the Gaza Strip in her investigation into the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“Targeted Israeli airforce attacks have destroyed the premises of 23 Palestinian and international media outlets in the past week. The latest airstrikes destroyed the bureaux of the US news agency, the Associated Press, and the Qatari TV broadcaster Al Jazeera. According to the Israeli military, these attacks were justified because the “military intelligence” wing of Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s ruling Islamist movement, had equipment in these building.

“Deliberately targeting media outlets constitutes a war crime,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“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. We call on the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor to determine whether these airstrikes constitute war crimes.”

Condemnation has also come from some US legislators such as Alexandria Ocasio Cortez popularly known as AOC who has accused the Biden administration of turning a deaf ear to human rights violations in Palestine by continuing to back the Israel government.

AOC described Israel as an apartheid state in a twitter rant.

She said:!”This is happening with the support of the United States.

I don’t care how any spokesperson tries to spin this. The US vetoed the UN call for ceasefire.

If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to?

How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?” asked AOC.

Also, Sally Buzbee, the Associated Press’s top editor Executive Editor, demanded that the Israeli government provides clear evidence supporting its attack, which leveled the 12-story al-Jalaa tower.

The first Israeli attack on media outlets occurred four days ago, after Hamas fired a series of rockets into Israel. In the early hours of 12 May, Israeli airstrikes destroyed the Al-Jawhara Tower, a 10-storey building in Gaza City that housed 14 media outlets including the Palestine Daily News newspaper and the pan-Arab TV channel Al-Araby.

The next day, an Israeli airstrike destroyed Gaza City’s Al-Shorouk Tower, a 14-storey building that housed seven media outlets including the Al-Aqsa radio and TV broadcaster. The IDF said they were “striking Hamas weapons stores hidden inside civilian buildings in Gaza.”

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