This is Not Al Jazeera's Director Speaking to the Israeli Army
The Claim
The director of Al Jazeera Palestine pleads with the Israeli army to wait for ten minutes before the airstrike on their office in Gaza.
News posted on
Emerging story
A viral claim online alleges that the Israeli Military Forces bombed Al Jazeera as a punishment for them after spreading fake news against Israel. Users also shared a video claiming it depicts Al-Jazeera's director begging Israel for 10 minutes to vacate before being bombed.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: The man in the circulating is Jawad Mahdi, owner of Jala’s Building and not the director of Al Jazeera.
Mahdi spent the final 10 minutes before the attack pleading with an Israeli intelligence officer on the phone to allow journalists back inside the tower to retrieve their belongings. But the officer rejected his request.
Jawad Mahdi, the owner of the Jalaa building, spoke to Insider while standing in the street outside the still-smoking ruins of the structure. There were no members of Hamas or offices belonging to Hamas inside the building, he said. "We do not have terrorism, no rockets, nothing," he said. "It was a normal life, no militants or anything."
According to the AP, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the building was used by Hamas military intelligence. However, there was no evidence Hamas used the building. There is no evidence that Al Jazeera was spreading false news against Israel.
Commenting on the bombing of the Al Jalaa building, Dr. Mostefa Souag, Acting Director-General of Al Jazeera Media Network, said, “We call on the international community to condemn such barbaric actions and targeting of journalists, and we demand an immediate international action to hold Israel accountable for its deliberate targeting of journalists and the media institutions.”
