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Israeli tank likely hit AFP Gaza office, International media probe finds
Israeli tank fire was likely the cause of blasts that damaged the AFP news agency’s office in Gaza on November 2, a collaborative investigation by AFP and international media outlets has found.
The Israeli military has indicated “the building was not targeted in any way”, and in June said the incident that occurred less than a month into the Gaza war was under review.
Tank fire: ‘A weapon not owned by any other party in the conflict apart from Israel’
Staff had already evacuated the office before the attack, but a camera broadcasting a live feed of the war captured the moments the agency’s server room on the 11th floor of the Hajji building in Gaza City was hit.
Five experts consulted said the damage to the server room was likely caused by a tank, a weapon not owned by any other party in the conflict apart from Israel.
“The weapon type and accuracy inherent in the Israeli tank weapon system means that the weapon hit the target it was aimed at,” said British munitions expert Adrian Wilkinson. “No other actor has a weapon system that fires line of sight with a warhead of 2.3 kilos, which is consistent with the damage caused inside the building,” he added.
This photograph taken on November 3, 2023, shows a gaping hole where a strike hit the AFP’s bureau in the Hajji building in Gaza City
Israel targeted livestreams that could be used as evidence, probe finds
The investigation noted other examples where livestreams appeared to be targeted, including an attack on the office of the Palestinian Media Group (PMG) just one hour before the strike on the AFP’s office.
Like the AFP, the PMG had been livestreaming the war to clients that included the Reuters news agency. One of PMG’s journalists was also injured in the attack.
An earlier investigation by AFP found an Israeli tank was likely behind an attack on journalists in southern Lebanon which killed Reuters video journalist Issam Abdallah, 37, and seriously injured an AFP photographer. Al Jazeera was livestreaming from the same location at the time of the attack.
Israeli authorities also recently briefly blocked the livestream of the AP news agency last month, the investigation noted.
Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, said that livestream footage could become “critical evidence” in investigations into potential war crimes.
This photograph taken on April 3, 2024, shows damage from a November 2, 2023 strike inside the AFP Gaza office server room, in Gaza City
Gaza journalists have long known that their ‘press’ vests do not protect them
A collaborative investigation by 50 journalists from 13 news outlets has found that at least 14 Palestinian journalists were wearing protective press gear when they were killed, wounded or allegedly targeted in Gaza.
“Today’s Gaza journalists have long known that their ‘press’ vests do not protect them,” said Laurent Richard from the news organisation Forbidden Stories, which led the investigation.
The report found that more than 100 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza – including 40 who were killed while they were at home – since October last year.
“Whereas the press vest was supposed to identify and protect us according to international laws … it is now a threat to us,” said Basel Khair al-Din, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza who believes he was targeted by an Israeli drone strike while wearing a press vest.
