Israel targets the press

Israel targets (and defends attacking) journalists in Gaza

by Allison Deger

Mondoweiss,

18 November, 2012

Al-Quds TV cameraman Khader al-Zahhar after Israeli air strike on media building, Gaza, 18 November 2012. (Photo: Ali Hassan/Reuters)

Early this morning, just after dawn, the Israeli military targeted two media buildings in the Gaza Strip, injuring six journalists with one losing his leg in an amputation after the bombing. "We obviously know there are journalists in the building," said IDF spokesperson Avital Leibovich hours later, confirming the Israeli military knowingly targeted news organizations in a military strike to destroy an antenna that was located on the roof of the building.  Leibovich continued, "so we did not attack any other floor in the building, but my advice to journalist visiting Gaza is to stay away from any Hamas positions, or Hamas sites, or Hamas posts for their own safety."

The BBC's Middle East Bureau Chief, Paul Danahar, posted an excerpt of Leibovich's address to the press here.

 

British independent filmmaker and activist based in Gaza, Harry Fear, also confirmed over Twitter today that media outlets were phoned this morning to flee from their offices. "Israel agents phone Gaza media threatening to flatten their buildings to the ground unless they evacuate," said Fear on Twitter.

Located in Gaza City the offices included Sky News, al-Arabiya news network, Dubai TV al-Aqsa TV, Russia Today, and Lebanese, German and Italien news teams. Khader al-Zahhar, a cameraman for al-Quds TV was rushed to a hospital after the air strike.

The Guardian reports:

A number of media organisations are based in the al-Shawa building, including al-Quds television, which is associated with Islamic Jihad. Khader al-Zahhar, a cameraman with al-Quds TV, had his leg amputated as a result of injuries sustained in the attack.

A second air strike struck another media complex in the city, the al-Shuruq building. It houses Sky News, the al-Arabiya news network, Dubai TV and an office of al-Aqsa TV, which is affiliated with Hamas.

Sky News reporter Sam Kiley was sleeping in the offices when the missile struck shortly before 7am. 'The missile hit the floor above us. There was a big flash of light and the sound of breaking glass.'

 

The IDF spoke publicly for the first time today about the strike on the media offices over social media, tweeting "Roofs of the two buildings targeted tonight, were used by Hamas to place their electronic and communication infrastructure." 

Throughout the five-day assault on the Gaza Strip Israeli military officials have repeatedly utilized social media to explain what targets they have hit in what appears to be an attempt to build a discourse on the "precision" of their weaponry. 

 But the @IDFSpokesperson's Tweets this morning signify a change in messaging, in which the military divulged they knowingly attacked civilians. "Hamas comms center, which was in civilian building. IDF only targeted devices on roof & left Hamas offices on 8th floor untouched."

Bombing press: Israeli strike
on Gaza media center injures
at least 6

An Israeli airstrike on a media compound has injured at least six journalists, Palestinian medical authorities say. Among the outlets damaged are local, Italian, German, Lebanese and Kuwaiti channels. RT's office in Gaza was affected too.

RT,

18 November, 2012

The journalists received minor to moderate injuries, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. One journalist had his leg amputated following the attack, he added.

Two buildings of a media center in Gaza City were targeted by Israeli warplanes early on Sunday in a series of strikes. Witnesses reported that the journalists had evacuated after an initial attack, which was followed by at least two more hits. The buildings were heavily damaged.

Some of the victims are employees of Palestinian Ma’an news agency , while the man who lost his leg is a cameraman with the local al-Quds TV, Ma’an reports. The attack was focused on the 11th floor, where the office of al-Quds TV is located.

Iranian Press-TV reported that one of their cameramen was injured.

Journalists from different agencys run after an Israeli air strike on an office of Hamas television channel Al-Aqsa in Gaza City

Among the journalists affected was the crew from RT’s Arabic-language sister channel Rusiya Al-Yaum. Fortunately for them, they had left the Shawa building about an hour before the Israeli planes delivered the strike. RT’s office was damaged, so the crew will move to a less-affected floor of the center.

Several other media organizations occupying apartment buildings are now being evacuated, filmmaker Harry Fear, who is currently in Gaza, told RT.

Among the media outlets the center hosted are Britain’s Sky News, Italian RAI, German ARD, Kuwait-TV and others.

The Middle East Foreign Press Association demanded explanation from the IDF over why the media buildings were targeted. It said journalists in areas of conflict are considered civilians and must be respected and protected as such under the international law.

An IDF report described the target of the attack as “a communications antenna used by Hamas to carry out terror activity against the State of Israel.” Israel sees al-Quds TV as a Hamas propaganda branch.

Later Israeli military told BBC they knew there was foreign media staff at least in one of the buildings they bombed beforehand. However those journalists were not the targets of the attack, they stressed.

But Fear doubts the IDF’s statements that it didn’t target journalists.

“It [Israel] doesn’t like journalists telling the truth and communicating facts and footage – the evidence of what it does. The most prominent example of that is from May 2010 [Israel attacked a Gaza flotilla], when Israel deliberately destroyed the memory cards of journalists… Israel also jammed communications, including satellite communication and cellular communication… So Israel is simply trying to suppress the truth,” Fear told RT.

In separate incidents at least three children have been killed in Gaza overnight including an 18-month-old, Palestinian sources reported on Sunday. The baby was killed in the Bureij refugee camp, spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told AFP.

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on an office of Hamas television channel Al-Aqsa in Gaza City.(AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)

Earlier on Thursday, BBC Arabic journalist based in Gaza Jihad Misharawi lost his infant son and sister-in-law after shrapnel hit their house.

The image of the grieving man went viral on the internet, triggering a wave of condolences and a response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who posted a picture of a baby reportedly injured by a Hamas rocket with a message saying that the militants are targeting Israeli children.

Palestinian medics said 48 Gazans had been killed by early Sunday and more than 450 injured since Israel launched its air campaign on Wednesday. Over the same period, three Israelis have been killed and 18 wounded, including 10 soldiers.

The Israeli army says militants have fired more than 600 rockets over the border since the start of the operation. Of them 430 hit and 245 were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system Israel deployed.

Israeli warplanes had hit more than 950 targets in Gaza. Overnight 180 strikes have been carried out.

Smoke billows as debris flies from the explosion at the local Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza City on November 18, 2012 after it was attacked during an Israeli airstrike. An Israeli air strike hit a Gaza City media building.(AFP Photo / Marco Longari)

Ajab al-Shorafa, a cameraman for Press TV network, arrives at the emergency room in Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike on the building housing the offices of the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV station and several other news outlets.(AFP Photo / Marco Longari)

A Palestinian journalist inspects his work car in Gaza City.(AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)