The Agence France-Presse office in Gaza City suffered significant damage from an attack on the building, according to an employee who visited, as the Israeli military continues to strike terror targets in the area. The IDF said it did not target the building, but a nearby attack may have resulted in rubble.
AFP is the only one of the world’s three major international news outlets currently operating a live video broadcast from Gaza City, which has not been interrupted despite the damage.
The unmanned AFP camera, broadcasting live around the clock, captured the moment of the attack just minutes before midday (1000 GMT) on Thursday.
An AFP official who visited the office said an explosive projectile appeared to have entered the technician’s office in the office horizontally from east to west.
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None of the eight AFP employees normally based in Gaza City were in the office at the time of the strike. The team was evacuated to the southern Gaza Strip on October 13 following an Israeli military order aimed at residents in the north of Hamas-controlled territory.
AFP’s Leon Bruneau fielded a question at Secretary Blinken’s press conference today, describing the incident as “apparently a missile attack.”
Blinken said journalists in Gaza must be protected when reporting on the war.
He said journalists “do extraordinary work in the most dangerous conditions to tell the story to the world.”
The impact destroyed the wall opposite the window and caused significant damage to the adjacent room and other doors. Water tanks on the roof were also damaged.
An Israeli military spokesman initially said the force had “checked.” [the report] several times.”
“There was no IDF attack on the building” in Gaza, he told AFP.
After further questioning by AFP, the IDF said it had carried out an attack near the building. “According to the current information we have, it appears that there was an IDF attack near the building to eliminate an immediate threat,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“The building was in no way attacked by the IDF and … we have no record of a missed target in this attack,” the statement said. “There was an IDF attack nearby that may have caused debris.”
Israel says numerous rockets fired from Gaza have misfired and landed in Palestinian territory, including one that struck near a hospital in October and which Hamas blamed on Israel. Hamas claimed hundreds were killed before Israel provided evidence that the explosion was caused by a rocket.
Images published by AFP on Friday showed a gaping hole in the wall of the 11-story building in the west of Gaza’s Rimal district, near the port.
“AFP strongly condemns this attack on its office in Gaza City,” said Fabrice Fries, chairman and chief executive of AFP.
“The location of this office is known to everyone and has been pointed out several times in recent days precisely to prevent such an attack and to allow us to continue providing images on site.
“The consequences of such an attack would have been devastating if the AFP team on site had not evacuated the city,” Fries said.