Israel showed US ‘smoking gun’ on Hamas in AP office tower, officials say

by

“We showed them the smoking gun proving Hamas worked out of that building,” a senior diplomatic source said. “I understand they found the explanation satisfactory.”

By LAHAV HARKOV

MAY 17, 2021 21:35

Israel shared intelligence with the US showing how Hamas operated inside the same building with the Associated Press and Al-Jazeera in Gaza, officials in Jerusalem said on Sunday.
Officials in more than one government office confirmed that US President Joe Biden’s phone call to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday was, in part, about the bombing of the building, and that Israel showed Biden and American officials the intelligence behind the action.
“We showed them the smoking gun proving Hamas worked out of that building,” a senior diplomatic source said. “I understand they found the explanation satisfactory.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the source’s remark, when asked about The Jerusalem Post’s reporting in an interview with US TV show Face the Nation.
“We share all the intelligence with our American friends,” he said. “The intelligence we had is about an intelligence office for [Hamas] housed in that building that plots and organizes terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. It is a perfectly legit target.”

Netanyahu also remarked that there were “no deaths whatsoever” from the strike on the building, because of measures Israel takes to avoid harming civilians, including giving an advance warning.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he did not see evidence from Israel that Hamas was operating out of the same building as the AP in Gaza, but that it is the job of others to handle intelligence matters.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: ’36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b’ }).render(‘4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6’); });

if(window.location.pathname.indexOf(“656089”) != -1){console.log(“hedva connatix”);document.getElementsByClassName(“divConnatix”)[0].style.display =”none”;}

Another senior Israeli official admitted that the fact that the bombing took place two days after a tweet by the IDF misled some foreign media into reporting that ground troops had entered Gaza made the situation more difficult from a public diplomacy perspective.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the ministry briefed thousands of journalists on the matter in the past day, including a joint briefing with the IDF and police spokespeople for foreign media on Saturday night.

 

IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 13, 2021

But in government-to-government diplomacy, Israeli officials felt that the situation was still good.
The US was the only country to inquire about the IDF strike on the building, which the military said housed Hamas military intelligence offices, as well as AP and Al Jazeera, other news outlets, and other offices and apartments.
“From an analysis the Foreign Ministry did [on Sunday], 80% of the 90 countries we spoke to in recent days released official statements supporting Israel’s right to defend itself. They aren’t calling to stop the operation,” a ministry source said.
 ASHKENAZI ALSO spoke to over 30 foreign ministers around the world.
“We’re still in a positive place when it comes to our legitimacy to act,” the Foreign Ministry source added. “There is very clear support for the Israeli stance that the terrorism crossed a line.”
The IAF struck the 12-story tower in Gaza on Saturday, giving a warning an hour in advance.
“The building housed the offices of civilian media, which the terrorist organization Hamas hides behind and uses as human shields,” the IDF said in a statement. “The terror organization Hamas deliberately places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Prior to the attack, the IDF warned the civilians who were in the building and gave them sufficient time to evacuate.”
After Operation Protective Edge in 2014, former AP reporter Matti Friedman wrote in The Atlantic: “Hamas understood that reporters could be intimidated when necessary and that they would not report the intimidation… The AP staff in Gaza City would witness a rocket launch right beside their office, endangering reporters and other civilians nearby – and the AP wouldn’t report it, not even in AP articles about Israeli claims that Hamas was launching rockets from residential areas.”
In light of the attack on the building in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his “unwavering support” to Associated Press president and CEO Garry Pruitt on Saturday, noting the “indispensability of their reporting in conflict zones.”
The AP and Al Jazeera condemned the airstrike in strong terms.
Pruitt called the strike “an incredibly disturbing development.” He said a dozen AP journalists and freelancers had been in the building, but were evacuated in time.
“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,” he said. “The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today.”
The acting director-general of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Media Network, Dr. Mostefa Souag, called the strike “barbaric” and said Israel should be held accountable.
“The aim of this heinous crime is to silence the media and to hide the untold carnage and suffering of the people of Gaza,” he said in a statement.
The spokesman for the IDF’s International Media Branch, Lt.-Col. Jonathan Conricus, rejected the notion that Israel was seeking to silence the media. “That is totally false – the media is not the target,” he told Reuters.
Zachary Keyser and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Tags Gaza IDF Al Jazeera airstrikes

var articleID = window.location.pathname.substring( window.location.pathname.lastIndexOf(“-“)+1); var articlesWithoutLinkPremium = [“661248”, “661185”, “661893”, “665206”, “602479”]; if( articlesWithoutLinkPremium.includes(articleID) == true) { document.getElementById(“premium-link”).style.display = “none”; } var cont = `Sign up for The Jerusalem Post Premium Plus for just $5
Upgrade your reading experience with an ad-free environment and exclusive content

Join Now >
`; document.getElementById(“linkPremium”).innerHTML = cont; var divWithLink = document.getElementById(“premium-link”); if(divWithLink !== null && divWithLink !== ‘undefined’) { divWithLink.style.border = “solid 1px #cb0f3e”; divWithLink.style.textAlign = “center”; divWithLink.style.marginBottom = “40px”; divWithLink.style.marginTop = “40px”; divWithLink.style.width = “728px”; } (function (v, i){ }); <!–

var cont = ` COVID-19 & The Jews: Challenges and Opportunities
Join The Jerusalem Post for its inaugural virtual event

Watch Now >
`; document.getElementById(“linkPremium”).innerHTML = cont; var divWithLink = document.getElementById(“premium-link”); if(divWithLink !== null && divWithLink !== ‘undefined’) { divWithLink.style.border = “solid 1px #cb0f3e”; divWithLink.style.textAlign = “center”; divWithLink.style.marginBottom = “40px”; divWithLink.style.marginTop = “40px”; divWithLink.style.width = “728px”; } (function (v, i){ }); –>

Advertisement

Subscribe for our daily newsletter

Subscribe for our daily newsletter

By subscribing I accept the terms of use and privacy policy

Hot Opinion

Jpost editorial logo

Israel needs to better coordinate the image war – editorial

By JPOST EDITORIAL

Emily Schrader

The demonization of Israel in the halls of Congress – Opinion

By EMILY SCHRADER

Susan Hattis Rolef

Jewish, Arab conflict not symmetrical, but both sides need to douse flames

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF

Amotz Asa-El

As violence rages, Netanyahu is eating what he cooked

By AMOTZ ASA-EL

Pamela Peled

An open letter to Naftali Bennett: Heal our country

By PAMELA PELED

Advertisement

Most Read

 

1

Did IDF deception lead to massive aerial assault on Hamas’s ‘Metro’?

Smoke and flames rise during an Israeli air strike, amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, in Gaza City May 14, 2021.

 

 

2

Tel Aviv battered in unprecedented Gaza barrage

A bus struck by a rocket fired from Gaza on May 5, 2021.

 

 

3

IDF preps for ground invasion as rockets continue to pound Israel

Bringing more IDF tanks to the border with Gaza, Southern Israel, following heavy rocket and missile barrage fired into Israel by militants in Gaza, May 13, 2021.

 

 

4

Soldier killed as cabinet okays more attacks

Damage caused to a building in Petah Tikva by Hamas rocket fire, May 13, 2021

 

 

5

Is Israel reaching a tipping point with internal clashes?

Israeli police seen on the streets of the central Israeli city of Lod, where last night synagogues and cars were torched as well as shops damaged, by Arab residents rioting in the city, still ongoing this evening. May 12, 2021

 

Advertisement

Reporters’ Tweets

A Twitter List by Jerusalem_Post
Read all Tweets >
The Jerusalem Post - Israel News
Available On App Store Android App On Google play
Information
About Us
Feedback
Advertise with Us
Terms Of Service
Privacy Policy
Subscriber Agreement
JPost Jobs
Cancel Subscription
פרסום בג’רוזלם פוסט
Customer Service
The Jerusalem Post Group
Breaking News
Iran News
Coronavirus
World News
JPost NY Conference
Diplomatic Conference
IvritTalk- Free trial lesson
The Jerusalem Report
Jerusalem Post Lite
March of the living
Kabbalat Shabbat
Shapers of Israel
Maariv Online
Maariv News
Tools and services
JPost Premium
Ulpan Online
JPost Newsletter
JPost News Ticker
Our Magazines
Learn Hebrew
RSS feed
JPost.com Archive
Digital Library
Special Content
Promo Content
Promo Content
Himalayan Salt Lamps
Undercounter Ice Makers
Commercial Carpet Cleaners
Commercial Paper Shredders
Cash Counting Machines
Commercial Zero Turn Mowers
Senior Discounts
Sites Of Interest
The Jerusalem Post Conferences
Conference production services
Jewish Broadcasting Service
Jerusalem Hotels
Personas Media
KKL-JNF
Poalim Online
The Jerusalem Post Customer Service Center can be contacted with any questions or requests:
Telephone: *2421 * Extension 4 Jerusalem Post or 03-7619056 Fax: 03-5613699 E-mail: subs@jpost.com
The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 07:00 AM and 14:00 PM and Fridays only handles distribution requests between 7:00 AM and 12:30 PM
For international customers: The center is staffed and provides answers on Sundays through Thursdays between 7AM and 14PM Israel time Toll Free number 1-800-448-9291 Telephone +972-3-761-9056 Fax: 972-3-561-3699 E-mail: subs@jpost.com
Copyright © 2021 Jpost Inc. All rights reserved • Terms of Use • Privacy Policy Designed by

.wpscraper-hover {outline: 3px dotted #B2E0F0 !important; opacity: .7 !important;filter: alpha(opacity=70) !important; background-color: #B2E0F0 !important;}.wpscraper-hover-parent {background-color:#B2E0F0 !important;} .wpscraper-hover img {opacity: 0.7 !important; filter: alpha(opacity=70 !important);} .wpscraper-selected {outline: 5px solid #19A3D1 !important;background-color: #4DB8DB !important; opacity: .7 !important;filter: alpha(opacity=70) !important;} .wpscraper-selected-parent {background-color: #4DB8DB !important;} .wpscraper-selected img {opacity: 0.7 !important; filter: alpha(opacity=70) !important;}

 

Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/israel-showed-us-smoking-gun-on-hamas-in-ap-office-tower-officials-say-668303.

Post Views: 26