Agence France-Presse on Saturday asked Israel for “a thorough and transparent investigation into the exact responsibility of its army”, after the strike which seriously damaged its office in Gaza City on Thursday, which had been shelled for weeks.
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AFP “took note of the latest statements from an Israeli army spokesperson referring to an IDF strike near (the AFP office) which could have caused debris.”
However, “these statements alone do not allow at this stage to explain the extent of the damage caused to the AFP office”, located at the top of an eleven-story building, said the agency.
“A strike against the office of an international news agency sends a worrying message to all journalists working in conditions as difficult as those prevailing today in Gaza,” said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries, quoted in the press release.
“It is essential that every effort is made to protect the media in Gaza,” he added.
AFP
According to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, which referred the matter to the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed against Palestinian journalists in Gaza, 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 outlets to have an office there, employs a total of nine people in the Gaza territory and “redoubles its efforts to enable the evacuation of those of its employees and members of their families who wish to leave the territory.
AFP’s live broadcast, which transmitted images live to Gaza City, has been temporarily interrupted since Saturday, for reasons independent of AFP.
AFP
According to an AFP collaborator who was able to go to the site, an explosive projectile appears to have entered from east to west, horizontally, into the technician’s office located on the top floor of the eleven-story building, destroying the wall opposite the window and causing significant damage in the two adjacent rooms.
“According to the information currently in our possession, it appears that there was an IDF strike near the building to eliminate an imminent threat,” said an Israeli army spokeswoman interviewed by AFP on Friday evening.
“It is very important to emphasize that the building was in no way targeted by the IDF and that we have no indication that a target was missed in this strike,” the spokesperson said, before ‘add, without further details: “There was an IDF strike nearby which may have caused debris.”