by Sid McGlynn
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been an ongoing crisis within the international stage since the term Zionism was first created in 1885 by the Austrian author Nathan Birnbaum which called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland within the land of Palestine. Palestine’s overall history since has been marked by brief but bloody clashes between the ethnic Palestinians who had settled the land for over a thousand years and an ever-rising number of Zionist settlers. This would lead to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and, following what can only be known as a failed two state system weakly imposed by the United Nations, the occupation of the majority of the Palestinian territories.
The more recent violence within Gaza was ignited by the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque within occupied East Jerusalem by Israeli police forces during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as well as the forced evictions of multiple Palestinian families within the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood by the Israeli supreme court. A large-scale rocket barrage launched from Gaza by the militant and current ruling body of Hama’s in retaliation after an ultimatum for Israeli forces to leave the holy site was ignored. Israeli’s retaliation would be far worse as they would begin to conduct large scale airstrikes against not only the rocket launch sites but also large population centres, medical facilities, the Al-Shati refugee camp and, in the case of this article, a media outlet utilised by the Associated Press and Al Jazeera media organisations as well as various other international journalists. The rapid advance of media coverage and social media has allowed much more of the world to witness for themselves the bombings of Gaza and its people which has led to the plight of the Palestinians to gain substantial support of people outside of Israel and even some countries such as Ireland. With this, it is becoming ever clearer that Israel’s continued use of the threat of Hama’s to justify their actions against the Palestinians is an excuse that is beginning to wear thin. Within this article, I look to examine the Israeli justification behind the bombing of the media building within Gaza city, also known as the Al-Jalaa tower and aim to demonstrate just how much Israel’s excuse for indiscriminate bombings is wearing out.
Firstly, Israel’s reasons for levelling the building must be examined. The Israeli military informed the media that Hama’s had been utilising the media building to house military intelligence, communications and electronic warfare assets that presumably allowed Hama’s to better coordinate their relatively low-level operations. The Israeli ambassador to the US further claimed that it was unlikely that AP or any of the other media organisations within the building were aware of the presence of Hama’s. I argue otherwise. In contrast, I believe that if Hama’s was indeed conducting such an operation that could be considered a threat, I find it more than likely that members of AP or other media organisations would be aware that Hama’s was active. In a building that is occupied by multiple investigating journalists, it is highly unlikely that Hama’s could conceal such an operation. Considering the protection that the international journalists believed they enjoyed at the time and the prestige of the organisations they represent, it is clear that the various media organisations would not have allowed Hama’s to further continue their operation. Allowing them to do so would have compromised their protection as well as the reputation of their organisations. As for Hama’s, it is because of organisations such as AP and Al Jazeera that have enabled for the growth of outside support for the Palestinian people and cause, to compromise such a source of support would do more harm than good for Hama’s and they are fully aware of this fact.
In the unlikely premise that Hama’s had indeed been operating within the building, we turn to Israel’s decision to supply a warning to the building's owner one hour before the strike was conducted. In Israel’s defence, this was to avoid any possible casualties which was thankfully the outcome. The evacuation itself however was incredibly frantic as journalists and families attempted to escape down the stairs or the single working elevator within the building. With such commotion, it is near impossible that the entire building besides the media staff would become aware that there was an emergency and with the recent Israeli bombings within Gaza, would likely conclude that they too must leave. Considering this, any Hama’s personnel within the building would also likely become aware of the incoming Israeli strike, therefore providing time for evacuation of personnel and potentially any equipment within their headquarters. Although it is entirely possible that Hama’s were unable to evacuate much of any potential equipment, a little under an hour is still sufficient time to ensure that any and all personnel along with at least minor pieces of equipment along with any intelligence to evacuate. Israeli intelligence undoubtedly knew this and therefore must have known that destroying the building would do very little to damage Hama’s own operation. At the most, Hama's operation has been temporarily disrupted at the cost of further damaging their image on the international stage. Therefore, it is not out of the question to suggest that Israel achieved a more subtle goal.
Turning to the wider picture, it is interesting to note that three days prior to the strike upon the media outlet, the Israeli Defence Ministry’s crossing point Authority imposed a strict ban preventing access to Gaza by foreign journalists. This has led to very little coverage upon the effects of the Israeli bombings within the strip besides from Palestinian reports and Israeli funded media. Not only is this a deliberate attempt to control the narrative but also to hide Israel’s true objectives within Gaza which would appear to be the destruction of as much critical infrastructure that any state would require for not only self-governance but also survival as hospitals, schools and police stations are destroyed with little to no evidence that Hama’s or any other militant threat was operating there. Israel is fully aware that through the lens of foreign media, it loses outside support and the public opinion of other states mounts against them as it becomes all too clear what Israel’s objectives are as well as continues to weaken the rhetoric of the threat of Hama’s constantly employed by Israel. The destruction of the media tower is further evidence of Israel’s attempts to disrupt media coverage within the Gaza strip and maintain control of the narrative while continuing to justify their bombings with the excuse that Hama’s operations were being conducted.
To finish off, I will add that in no way are Hama’s the ‘good guys’ of the story, they have committed horrific acts in the past which will earn them no sympathy and will not be forgotten easily. Israel must also concern itself with enemies beyond its borders in the form of states and other insurgent groups that constantly watch Israel for signs of weakness. To prevent Hamas taking more lives either through careful diplomacy or the unfortunate use of arms is a desirable and understandable goal, but it is abundantly clear that Israel’s goals are far from this. The deaths of over 256 civilians, 66 being young children and Israel’s incredibly determined attempts to control the narrative of the media point to a very different agenda that align very closely with neo-colonialism and involve reducing Gaza to a pile of rubble incapable of sustaining a population which in itself is a very slow method of ethnic cleansing. With the freedom of information only increasing, it is becoming abundantly clear that Israel’s excuses are no longer being accepted by an increasing amount of people as well as states across the globe and it is only a matter of time before Israel’s most common justification for its bombings against Palestinian civilians is no longer accepted.
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