IDF Spokesman Hidai Zilberman insists the army is “100 percent certain” that the Al Jala building demolished by the IDF on Saturday held “military assets” used by Hamas.
The building housed the offices of several media organizations, including the Associated Press, which is demanding an independent investigation into the incident.
In a Channel 12 interview, Zilberman is asked why US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he has still not received promised Israeli evidence to that effect.
“In the coming days, we will do everything we’ve been asked in order to make clear that it was appropriate to destroy this building,” he says.
He specifies that Hamas used it for R&D and intel purposes, and that it was used by the Islamic Jihad terror group as well.
Fire and smoke rises from the Jala Tower as it is destroyed in an Israeli airstrike after the IDF warned the occupants to leave, Gaza City, May 15, 2021 (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
Zilberman also says that the IDF’s ongoing bombardment of Hamas’s tunnel infrastructure is forcing key leaders of the terror group above ground, “where they can be targeted.”
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 17, 2021
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
