Israeli air strike destroys Turkish news agency’s Gaza City bureau
The Israeli army destroyed a building in which the bureau of the Turkish state news agency Anadolu occupied the first floor. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recalls that the media are by no means legitimate targets.
On the night of Saturday, May 4, the Israeli army bombed and completely destroyed a building in the Gaza Strip, the first floor of which was occupied by the Turkish Anadolu news agency. According to the army, Hamas used this building to "hide terror infrastructures".
There were no injuries. Bureau chief Yaser Albanna told RSF that the building’s owner received a phone call from the Israeli military authorities at around 7 p.m., giving its occupants 30 minutes to evacuate.
The air strike, which came amid a surge in tension between Israel and the Gaza Strip, destroyed all of the bureau’s equipment and material, but the bureau’s 11 staff members have continued to work from home. Anadolu is the Turkish government’s official news agency.
“The news media must not be regarded as parties to the conflict and are never legitimate targets”, RSF’s Middle East desk pointed out.
Israel is ranked 88th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.
Middle East - North Africa
