Agence France-Presse called on Israel on Saturday for “a thorough and transparent investigation into the exact responsibilities of its army” after its office in Gaza City, which had been under fire for weeks, was badly damaged in an attack on Thursday.
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AFP “has noted recent statements by an Israeli army spokesman referring to an IDF attack near (the AFP office) that may have resulted in rubble.”
However, “these statements alone do not allow, at this stage, to explain the extent of the damage caused to the AFP office,” located in the attic of an 11-story building, the agency said.
“A strike against the office of an international news agency sends a worrying message to all journalists who work in difficult conditions like those in Gaza today,” AFP chief Fabrice Fries was quoted as saying in the press release.
“It is important that every effort is made to protect the media in Gaza,” he added.
AFP
According to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, which referred the case of war crimes against Palestinian journalists in Gaza to the International Criminal Court, more than thirty journalists have been killed there since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The AFP, one of the few international media companies to have an office there, employs a total of nine people in the Gaza area and is “doubling its efforts to facilitate the evacuation of those of its employees and their family members who wish to leave the area.”
AFP’s live feed, which broadcast the images live to Gaza City, has been temporarily interrupted since Saturday for reasons independent of AFP.
AFP
According to an AFP employee who was able to be at the scene, an explosive projectile appears to have entered the technician’s office on the top floor of the eleven-story building horizontally from east to west, destroying the wall opposite the window and causing significant damage in the two adjacent rooms.
“According to the information we currently have, it appears that there was an IDF attack near the building to eliminate an immediate threat,” an Israeli army spokeswoman said in an interview with AFP on Friday evening.
“It is very important to emphasize that the building was in no way attacked by the IDF and that we have no evidence that any target was missed in this attack,” the spokesman said, before adding without further details: “It There was an …”IDF attack nearby that may have caused debris.”