www.aljazeera.com
Israel rolls back general’s comments on bombing Gaza media tower
Benny Gantz says military chief spoke figuratively when defending Israel’s bombing of Gaza media offices.
International
Israel’s defence minister has distanced himself from comments made by his military chief after Israel bombed a Gaza Strip high-rise housing Al Jazeera and The Associated Press offices as well as other news outlets, saying the remarks were not meant to be taken literally.
In an article published on the website of Israel’s Channel 12 news over the weekend, the military chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Aviv Kohavi, was quoted as saying “the building was destroyed justly” and he did not have a “gram of regret”.
The article claimed Hamas used various floors of the al-Jalaa tower for “significant electronic warfare” meant to disrupt Israeli air force GPS communications.
The article then said Kohavi told “a foreign source” the AP’s journalists drank coffee each morning in a cafeteria in the building’s entrance with Hamas electronics experts, whether they knew it or not.
The AP called the comments “patently false”, noting “there was not even a cafeteria in the building”.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/1/israel-rolls-back-army-chiefs-comments-of-coffee-with-hamas