Israel-Palestine
Israeli jets today deliberately destroyed the building housing Al Jazeera and the Associated Press in what appears to be a flagrant attack on press freedom. The al-Jalaa tower, an 11-story building in Gaza City, also housed some 60 residential apartments. The people who lived there are now homeless. The Israeli army has claimed that the armed group Hamas had assets in the building. Gary Pruitt, CEO of the AP, told Al Jazeera in an interview that his news organisation had been in the building for 15 years and had never seen any sign of a Hamas presence. He asked Israel to provide evidence, something it has yet to do. Al Jazeera continued its coverage without any break.
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza was today described as at its most intense yet. An air raid on a refugee camp killed 10 people, including eight children. They were all members of the same family. From Al Jazeera:
Mohammed al-Hadidi told Al Jazeera his wife and four sons – Suheib, 14, Yahya, 11, Abdelrahman 8, and Wisam 6 – were all killed. They were visiting his wife’s brother to celebrate Eid when the strike occured.
Another woman and her four children were also killed.
Al-Hadidi said his infant son Omar was his only child to survive the attack.
Here, al-Hadidi soothes Omar.
Also in Gaza, this little girl, Nadeen, moved people all over the world in a video that has now been viewed almost three million times.
Only one story today. This is the story you should know.