Paris (AFP) – Agence France Presse reported in a statement on Saturday that it had asked Israel for “a thorough and transparent investigation into the precise responsibilities of its army” after the bombing that severely damaged its office in bombed-out Gaza City Thursday. For weeks.
First change: June 11, 2023 – 01:38 Last change: June 11, 2023 – 01:36
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The AFP “notes recent statements by an Israeli army spokesman who spoke of an IDF bombing nearby.” [de la oficina de la AFP] that could have caused debris.’”
However, “these statements alone cannot, at this time, explain the extent of the damage sustained at the AFP office,” which is located in the roof of an 11-story building, the agency said.
“A bomb attack on the office of an international press agency sends a worrying message to all journalists working in difficult conditions like those in Gaza today,” AFP President Fabrice Fries said in the statement.
“It is important that everything possible is done to protect the media in Gaza,” he added.
According to the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), more than thirty journalists have died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.
The AFP is one of the few international media companies that has an office in Gaza. The company employs a total of nine people in the enclave and is “doubling its efforts to facilitate the evacuation of those of its employees and their families who wish to leave the area.”
The AFP’s “Live Video” service, which broadcast live images from Gaza City, has been temporarily suspended since Saturday for reasons beyond AFP’s control.
According to an AFP official who was at the scene on Friday morning, an explosive projectile penetrated from east to west into the technician’s office, which was located on the top floor of the building. The bullet destroyed the wall opposite the window and caused extensive damage to two adjacent rooms.
An Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP on Friday: “According to the information we currently have, there appears to have been an IDF attack.” [Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel] near the building to eliminate an immediate threat.
“It is very important to emphasize that the building was in no way an IDF target and that we have no evidence that any target was missed in this attack,” he added.
“There was an IDF attack nearby, which may have caused debris,” he added.
After the bloody attack on Israeli territory on October 7 that killed at least 1,400 people, most of them civilians, Israel vowed to “destroy” the Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
Since then, Israel has bombed Palestinian territory and, according to Hamas, the offensive killed nearly 9,500 people, including 3,900 children.
© 2023 AFP