Media headquarters or Hamas headquarters? This is the question.
On the 11th of May 2021, Israel launched a military operation against the Gaza strip. It was called Operation Guardian of the Walls. It followed weeks of increasing tension in occupied east Jerusalem and Palestinian towns and cities throughout Israel.
as part of this operation, Israeli warplanes bombed and destroyed four tower blocks in Gaza city where Palestinians lived and businesses were based. these towers were in Gaza’s busy “Rimal” neighborhood. “Rimal” is a commercial district and a residential area where media organizations and international agencies also have their offices.
Israel engaged in several provocations before any rockets were directed from Gaza to Israel. those provocations involve the evictions from “Sheikh jarrah” neighborhood in east Jerusalem and then there were the right-wing demonstrations, given police protection in Israel that marched through east Jerusalem neighborhoods, shouting slogans to the effect of death to the Arabs and very provocative for leading to Palestinian resistance. and then finally and perhaps most importantly the entry of Israeli security forces to the “Aksa” compound and mosque.
in the last days of “Ramadan” interfering with the worship in this place that is considered a sacred site. The demolished towers were attractive to businesses because of the services they provided. companies requiring stability rented office space there, knowing that electricity, water, and other essential services were relatively reliable day and night.
the “Hanadi” tower was known for its sea view. It housed serviced hotel-style apartments health club media organizations, technology businesses, and residential apartments.
“Al-Jauhara” tower housed the headquarters of several media organizations including the Palestinian national news agency and other TV stations. There were also restaurants offices and apartments.
“Al-Sharok” tower was in the middle of the busiest street in Gaza. it contained dozens of shops, import and export offices, and some local media and there was “Al-Jalaa” tower with the
bureau of “Al-Jazeera” media network and the US media agency “Associated Press” were based on its lower floors were a range of business offices while the upper floors housed residential apartments. All these towers are no more.
Rami Abdo heads euro Mediterranean Human Rights monitor based in Geneva that conducted an investigation into these attacks in Gaza and came to broadly the same conclusion as the people on the ground at the time. that the four towers had no military purpose whatsoever. However, the Israeli army disagreed claiming the buildings were being used for military purposes. So where does the truth lie? Why were these towers singled out bombed and destroyed? This is exactly one of the questions that have to be asked by inquiry that should be held.
The fact that missiles from Israeli jets struck the towers is undisputed but what isn’t clear is the reason behind the attacks or the process of how exactly a building is selected for destruction.
Israel has always presented its military operations like those conducted by the most moral army in the world but anyone that’s looked scrutinized its behavior from an objective point of view understands this to be propaganda or public relations designed to convince the world of something that’s essentially not true or and the reverse is true.
a caller from the Israeli military gave a warning of the imminent bombing of Al-Jalal tower with the deadline approaching the owner pleaded on the phone for more time to evacuate. But the people had just one hour to take their stuff from the building.
after bombing the “Hanadi”, “Al-Jalaa” and Al-Johar towers, the Israeli army gave its justification for the action it claimed those towers housed Hamas intelligence officers. It also accused Hamas of using the “Al-Sharok” tower for what it called terrorism purposes.
Israel has claimed at least in one case of Hamas offices and to be precise Hamas intelligence was housed in one of the towers. However, there is another principle of international laws of warfare and that is the principle of proportionality.
in military terms, the principle of proportionality concerns the obligation to weigh military objectives against the risk of harm to civilians. Armies around the world have the use of advanced weapons technology some guided missiles can limit the damage they cause while others are highly destructive and that includes those used to bomb the residential and commercial towers in Gaza. This choice of missiles gives the attacker the option of creating a targeted explosion in one part of a building or launching a high-impact missile strike capable of destroying an entire tower block.
If Israeli forces knew that the strategic militarily relevant equipment was in the building they must have known where in the building that it was. it would be hard to have one type of knowledge without the other type of knowledge. and that a more reasonable interpretation is that this military operation was directed not only at Hamas but also at the overall population of Gaza. they had a hybrid motivation of both deterring and destroying what they could of Hamas’s capabilities but also warning the people that if they tolerate the leadership of Hamas they must expect to suffer consequences at the same time.
after the “Al-Jalaa” tower was demolished, the president and CEO of the associated press news agency spoke to the media: “We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing ap’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza. Israeli forces have long known the location of our bureau and new journalists were the army should present its case and evidence to the public in general”. it’s inconceivable that a residential civilian tower is being pancaked and the army does not explain what was there that justified such a horrendous brutal attack.
Israel is not going to provide some sort of proper evidence that these towers were used for military purposes. the buildings themselves are commercial buildings the “Al-Jalaa” building is a media building that has media offices functioning all the time.
The point is the so-called Dahiya doctrine which was developed in the war against Lebanon in 2006, was explained by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) commander-in-chief at the time as deliberately inflicting disproportionate damage on the civilian population as a way of discouraging Hezbollah provocations. in the view of the Goldstone Commission that investigated the 2008–2009 military operation in Gaza the Dahiya doctrine has been consistently practiced by Israel, in other words, it has made it part of its policy to engage in disproportionate responses to what it believes to be a provocation.
international human rights organizations have also criticized the actions of the Israeli army and since the violence, human rights watch said quote rocket and mortar attacks during May 2021.
fighting in the Gaza strip which killed and injured civilians violated the laws of war and amount to war crimes. in a separate report, human rights watch stated it found no evidence that members of Palestinian groups involved in military operations had a current or long-term presence in any of the towers at the time they were attacked.
Al-Jazeera strongly condemns the bombing and destruction of its offices by the Israeli military in Gaza either. it said it viewed this as a clear act to stop journalists from reporting events on the ground. efforts to rebuild Gaza following the May 2021 attacks are slow. two months after the bombings the world bank, the EU, and the unconcluded a rapid damage and needs assessment report for Gaza. They estimated the recovery cost to be up to 485 million us dollars over the next two years. The human cost was the death of at least 253 Palestinians including 65 children killed. despite the bombing of their offices al-Jazeera, associated press and other media organizations continue to report on events in Gaza.
