Tel Aviv: Israel Defence Forces on Saturday accused the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas of turning residential areas in the Gaza Strip into military strongholds.
"It [Hamas] uses tall buildings in Gaza for multiple military purposes such as intelligence gathering, planning attacks, command and control, and communications," IDF posted on Twitter.
The following tweet came minutes after the reports of a building that housed Associated Press and Al Jazeera news outlets was collapsed following an airstrike by the Israel.
Giving an explanation as to why it targets such buildings, the IDF said the building become a military target when they are used by Hamas for military purposes. "This is clear international law," it said.
"The Israel Defense Forces struck a number of such buildings in recent days, but before we did so, we took steps to try and ensure that civilians would not be harmed," the Israeli military said adding that they call the building's residents and warn them to leave.
"We sent SMS messages. We dropped "roof knocker" bombs; they make loud noises and hit only the roof. We provided sufficient time to evacuate," said IDF.
Over the past six days, armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups have kept flaring up, marking the fiercest fighting between the two sides since 2014 that has killed more than 120 Palestinians and nearly 10 Israelis.
|