Israel claims demolished Gaza media tower was used by Hamas to affect “Iron Dome”

The Israeli army assured on Tuesday that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was operating from the Al Yalá tower, which housed the headquarters of the international media and which it had been shot down during an Israeli bombardment, in an attempt to affect anti-aircraft system operations. An iron dome ‘.

The Israel Defense Forces pointed out that the building, demolished during Operation Guardians of the Walls, “was used by the terrorist organization Hamas for intelligence operations.”, including electronic interception operations “against the operational activities of the military and civilian systems in Israel”.

“One of the main goals of these efforts was to develop a system that would disrupt the ‘Iron Dome’ air defense system.”, he underlined, before stressing that the objective of the bombardment was “to limit these enemy capacities, including the destruction of special equipment”.

In this sense, he specified that “the material was in the building at the time of the bombardment” and added that it “was intended to demolish the building to guarantee the destruction of these special means”.

“The target was of great military value to Hamas and was approved under rigorous military procedures, in addition to being in accordance with international law.”, argued, after international criticism against the destruction of the offices of many media, including the US agency Associated press and the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera.

He also stressed that “given the nature of the target, before the bombing, the army gave notice to civilians in the building.” “Great efforts have been made to allow civilians to evacuate the building,” he said, while stressing that the process was “meticulous”.

“This event must be put in context. Hamas intentionally operates among the civilian population of Gaza to hamper the operational activities of the army. The military will continue to maintain the safety of Israeli citizens, while doing everything possible to avoid harming non-combatants. “, riveted.

For his part, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Gilad Erdan, met on Tuesday with representatives of Associated press in New York “to explain to the leadership that the building that housed their operations in Gaza was being used by Hamas terrorists trying to affect the” Iron Dome “.

“That’s why it was a priority for the army during operations last month”, He pointed this out via his Twitter account, in reference to the eleven days of clashes in the Gaza Strip, which left more than 250 dead in the Palestinian enclave and twelve in Israel.

Erdan, who said that “the PA is one of the most important news agencies in the world,” added that “Israel does not suspect that its employees were aware that a secret Hamas unit was using the building. in this way “.

“Israel has done everything possible to ensure that employees or civilians are not injured during this operation. In contrast, Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization that deliberately places its terrorist machinery in civilian areas, including buildings used by international media. “, is it argued.

Finally, Erdan pointed out that “Israel attaches the utmost importance to press freedom and fights to ensure the safety of journalists wherever they work. “Israel is ready to help PA in the reconstruction of their offices and operations in Gaza “, riveted.

The owner of the Al Yalá tower, Yauad Mehdi, filed a complaint at the end of May with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for this attack, which he described as a “war crime”, as revealed by his lawyer, Gilles Devers, who stressed that Israel could not justify the presence of military objectives there.

“We hear repeatedly that this tower was destroyed because there was an armed resistance team or group. This is something that we totally deny after studying the case, ”Devers explained. “International law establishes that civilian property can only be damaged if it is used for military purposes, and that was not the case,” he said.

(With information from Europa Press)

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