Israel Says Hamas Jammed Signals From Destroyed Media Building

• The attack came during a May 10-21 military escalation, with Hamas firing rockets into Israel in response to what it considered provocations

Israel alleged Tuesday that a Gaza media building it destroyed was used by Hamas to jam air defenses as it offered to help the Associated Press rebuild its bureau.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Gilad Erdan, gave the most detailed explanation yet of the decision to strike the tower as he met the head of the news agency, Gary Pruitt, at its New York headquarters.

“The unit was developing an electronic jamming system to be used against the Iron Dome defense system,” Erdan said, referring to the anti-missile shield that intercepts Hamas rockets.

Read also: Israel, Hamas Agree To Ceasefire After 11 Days Of Fighting

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He praised the role of the Associated Press, one of the world’s major news agencies along with Agence France-Presse and Reuters, and said he did not imagine AP employees were aware of the alleged use of the building by Hamas.

“Israel did everything it could to make sure that no employees or civilians were hurt during this important operation,” he said in a statement released a day after his meeting with AP executives.

“In contrast, Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization that has no regard for the press. It purposely places its terror machine in civilian areas, including in offices being used by international media outlets,” he said.

Erdan said that Israel is “willing to assist” the Associated Press in rebuilding its office in Gaza, which is controled by Hamas, a militant Islamist group.

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