Manila Today
In a press briefing held on November 3, AFP correspondent Leon Bruneau sought US Secretary Antony Blinken’s thoughts following the strike that destroyed their newsroom in Gaza City.
Blinken only affirmed that the US stands strongly for Israel’s right and obligation to defend itself, believing that Israel does this with the highest regard for the protection of civilians and journalists alike.
However, that had not been the case among several media offices and journalists enduring the horrors of relentless airstrikes, bombings, and killings following the risk of critical reportage and difficult working conditions in the ongoing aggression of the state of Israel towards Palestine, specifically in Gaza City.
Bombings in AFP
The international news organisation Agence France-Presse (AFP) and several other press bureaus in Hajji Tower were destroyed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on November 2, the same day that the world commemorates to end impunity against journalists. The attack caused significant damage to the buildings housing the newsrooms where brave media professionals dared to report stories in a timely manner amid extremely challenging circumstances in Gaza.
At first, an IDF spokesperson denied any involvement in the incident implying that there was no IDF strike on the AFP building until it later pushed back and spoke about the “current information” they have.
“According to the current information we hold, it seems that there was an IDF strike near the building to eliminate an immediate threat,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson affirmed that there was an IDF strike nearby that “might have caused debris“ but reasoned that the building was not targeted “in any way” given that they do not have any record of a missed target.
The strike not only caused debris but ultimately destroyed the wall opposite the window and caused significant damage to the adjacent room and other doors. It also punctured water tanks on the roof.
“AFP condemns in the strongest possible terms this strike on its Gaza City bureau. The location of this bureau is known to everyone and has been pointed out several times over the past few days, precisely to prevent such an attack and to allow us to continue to provide images on the ground. The consequences of such an attack would have been devastating if the AFP team on the ground had not evacuated the city.” said AFP Chairman and CEO, Fabrice Fries in a statement.
None of the eight staff who are usually based in the Gaza bureau were there at the moment of the strike as the team evacuated to southern Gaza on October 13.
One of AFP cameras managed to document the footage at the time when the strike occurred.
AFP is the only one of the world’s three major international news agencies currently operating a live video feed from Gaza City, which has not been interrupted despite the damage.
The media outfit further demanded for an in-depth and transparent investigation from Israel into the exact extent of its army’s involvement following the strike.
The IDF has a history of bombings among newsrooms covering the Israel and Palestine war since 2009, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“In 2009, CPJ documented the IDF’s attack on the Al-Johara Tower in Gaza City, which housed more than 20 international news organizations. There were at least two other such incidents the same year. In May 2021, CPJ documented the bombing of at least 18 media outlets,” said CPJ in a statement.
Among the 18 media outfits include the US agency Associated Press (AP) and Qatar’s Al Jazeera where the IDF completely destroyed its 13-floor building. The Israeli military furthered that the strike was “perfectly legitimate” as it was based on information from its intelligence service.
Martyred journalists covering Israel’s atrocities
The brazen attacks against newsrooms not to mention the journalists have continued to upsurge.
Palestine TV correspondent Mohammand Abu Hatab alongside 11 of his family members were killed following an Israeli strike that targeted his home in Khan Yunis in south of Gaza.
His media outfit referred to the attack as “a deliberate assassination” since his house was targeted as soon as he went back home from covering Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.
AFP chair Fries stated that these strikes send a deeply troubling message to all the journalists working amid hostile conditions in Gaza hence the need of all efforts to protect the media in Gaza must be done.
CPJ president Jodie Ginsburg added that journalists and media offices must be respected and protected.
“Journalists are civilians who play an essential role in corroborating information and keeping the public informed,” Ginsburg stated.
CPJ has documented 36 slain journalists and media workers in the middle of Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in Palestine, marking it the current deadliest four-week period for journalists covering the conflict.
An estimated 10,000 fatalities were recorded since Israeli retaliation started after the October 7 attacks of Hamas. But the Israeli siege against the entire Palestinian people began 75 years ago when Israel occupied the vast territories of Palestine which, at the time, was under the Ottoman Empire.
