U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said says Israel has yet to give him any evidence that its recent attack on a building hosting the offices of the Associated Press and other media outlets in Gaza was justified.
Blinken made the remarks during a presser in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Monday, a day after Israel destroyed a building housing The Associated Press and Al Jazeera, claiming it was being used by Hamas’ military intelligence unit.
He said he personally has not seen any evidence of Hamas operating in the building despite pressing Israel for justification.
“Shortly after the strike we did request additional details regarding the justification for it,” Blinken said.
“I have not seen any information provided.”
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has since asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s bombing of the building as a possible war crime.
The Israeli military gave AP journalists and other tenants about an hour to evacuate. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Israel was compiling evidence for the U.S. but declined to commit to providing it within the next two days.
In remarks Sunday, Netanyahu repeated Israel’s claim that the building housed an intelligence office of Hamas. Asked if he had relayed supporting evidence of that in a call with President Joe Biden on Saturday, Netanyahu said that “we pass it through our intelligence people.”
The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, said in a letter to the court’s chief prosecutor that the offices of 23 international and local media organizations have been destroyed over the past six days.
