BEVERLY HILLS, July 23, (THEWILL) – Al Jazeera’s bureau in Gaza has come under fire as Israeli forces revved up its bombardment campaign inside Gaza targeting Hamas backed fighters and their tunnels.
The bureau is situated in a residential area of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera correspondents have collected large bullets from around the building, with other nearby buildings left untouched. No one has been injured, the international broadcaster said Tuesday.
“Two very precise shots were fired straight into our building,” Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from the bureau, said. “We are high up in the building so we had a very strong vantage point over the area. But we have evacuated. Our office building also has many residential apartments. People [are] leaving, panicked.”
The broadcaster said the attack followed Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s incendiary and threatening comments about Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera spokesperson Osama Saeed said, “The foreign minister’s comments were a direct threat against us and appear to have been taken as a green light for the targeting of our journalists in Gaza. We hold the Israeli authorities fully responsible. They have put the lives of journalists in danger.
“Our journalists have been doing an outstanding job in reporting to our mass audience in the region what is happening on the ground.
“A threat to one is a threat to all, and this is a dark sign for all journalists operating in the territory. Journalists must be protected while doing their job of giving the public information they have the right to know, helping them understand what is going on. Journalism is not a crime!
“We assure our audience that we will continue reporting all aspects of the events taking place, with the utmost professionalism, with commitment to the human side of the story. We will go on covering what is happening taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our crews.”
