A building that has housed international media offices including Al Jazeera’s in the Gaza Strip was hit by an Israeli air strike that totally demolished the structure. Video: Al Jazeera
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called 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 attacks on 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, reports the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
The latest airstrikes destroyed the offices of the US-based news agency Associated Press and the Qatari-based global TV broadcaster Al Jazeera.
- READ MORE: Israel bombs Gaza tower housing media offices of AP, Al Jazeera
- Palestine: Hold Israel accountable for crimes against journalists, says IFJ
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 this 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.”
First Israeli attack on media
The first Israeli attack on media outlets occurred four days ago, after Hamas fired a series of rockets into Israel.
THREAD This Sunday, we formally seized the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, about the bombing of local and international media installations and equipment in #Gaza since May 11, which we consider to be war crimes. https://t.co/nrk3k7rcsg pic.twitter.com/Lpxr7tNjCm
— Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) May 16, 2021
In the early hours of May 12, 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 claimed it was “striking Hamas weapons stores hidden inside civilian buildings in Gaza”.
Israel is ranked 86th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
