Middle East Monitor / May 18, 2021
Amnesty International yesterday called for an investigation into Israel’s targeting of Al-Jalaa Tower which housed foreign media offices in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, Israeli warplanes destroyed Al-Jalaa Tower, which housed the offices of various media groups, including Al-Jazeera and the Associated Press.
Israeli missiles also killed two Palestinian mothers and eight children in Al-Shati refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.
“Direct attacks on civilians are war crimes,” Amnesty International said on Twitter, adding that it is “deeply concerned over the mounting death toll in Gaza.”
The London-based rights group called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “investigate Israel’s attack on the al-Shati refugee camp.”
“The Israeli attack on Al-Jalaa building destroying homes, Al-Jazeera, Associated Press offices must also be investigated as a war crime. The strike fits a pattern of Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian population.”
At least 198 Palestinians have been killed, including 58 children and 35 women, in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last week, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. More than 1,235 people have also been injured and scores of buildings destroyed or damaged in the Israeli assault.
Ten Israelis have also been killed.
The recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assault on worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
