AFP office in Gaza hit in Israeli airstrike
Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on an office of Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza City on November 18, 2012. (File photo)
The office of Agence France-Presse in the Gaza Strip has been hit in an Israeli airstrike on the besieged Palestinian territory.
Two of those killed were cameramen working for Al-Aqsa TV. Mohammed Thouraya, head of the station, said the two were driving in a car with press markings in Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after wrapping up an assignment at the city's al-Shifa Hospital.
An unnamed AFP photographer said he was in the fourth floor of the building, when three rockets struck the sixth floor on Tuesday night.Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed three Palestinian journalists in their cars on Tuesday.Thouraya added that the bodies of the two, Mohammed al-Koumi and Hussam Salam, were badly burned.The Moscow-based Russia Today news station reported on November 18 that its office on the top floor of the Showa Media Center in Gaza City "was destroyed after (an) Israeli airstrike hit the building."The attack occurred after the office of Iran's English-language channel, Press TV, in Gaza was hit twice earlier in the day.During the bombings, a Press TV cameraman sustained injuries.Medical officials in Gaza said 21 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday. An Israeli soldier and a civilian died when rockets exploded near the Gaza frontier.Gaza medical officials say more than 140 people have died in Israeli strikes, mostly civilians.In all, five Israelis have died, including three civilians, who were killed last week.The Israeli military has reportedly struck more than 1,350 targets in Gaza since the offensive began on November 14.In response, Palestinian resistance fighters have fired retaliatory rockets and missiles into the Israeli-occupied lands, 640 rockets have hit Israel while more than 300 others have been intercepted.The Israeli military frequently carries out airstrikes and other attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, in violation of international law, disproportionate force is always used and civilians are often killed or injured.Gaza has been blockaded by the Israeli regime since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.MP/AS
Yesterday night, in separate Israeli airstrikes, the offices of Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al Jazeera English were struck or damaged in Gaza City. The airstrike struck the Al-Showa media building, the third such strike in three days.
Badge of the Israel Defense Forces
"A short while ago, the IDF Israel Defense Forces targeted a Hamas intelligence operations center on the seventh floor of a media building in Gaza. A direct hit was confirmed," said the IDF in a statement. "The Hamas terrorists weren't in the media building to be interviewed. They were there to communicate with field operatives and plan attacks".

Journalists in Gaza City in particular, have been victims of violence in the past three days. Earlier yesterday, three Palestinian journalists were killed in two separate airstrikes.  cameramen Mahmoud al-Koumi and Husam Salameh were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their car which was reported to be marked as 'Press.'  Educational Radio personality Muhammad Abu Aisha was killed in the second airstrike which also struck his car. On Sunday, at least six journalists were injured when an Israeli airstrike first struck the Al-Showa media building housing international journalists. , , , and al-Quds TV, among other agencies, all have offices located in the building.

The IDF has admitted to targeting buildings belonging to media outlets, but states that such buildings are used for "Hamas' operational communications" and denies that any journalists were targets.

"We obviously knew there were journalists in the building, so we did not attack other floors in the building", said Avital Leibovich, a spokesperson for the IDF on Monday.  

In an interview on the English channel of Al Jazeera, also on Monday, an Israeli government spokesperson said "As far as I know, no foreign journalists were hurt whatsoever" in the airstrike on Sunday. "I am not aware...oh you are talking about...first of all, maybe we have a discussion about who is a journalist," added the spokesperson who claims that Al-Aqsa is a Hamas control facility. The spokesperson went on to add that, "From our point of view, that's not a legitimate journalist like an Al Jazeera journalist" and that none of those injured was a "bona fide journalist."

According to the AFP's own report, they were warned directly by the IDF via their Twitter account not to setup offices in the Showa building in a message saying, "This building housed a Hamas intelligence HQ, do not be used as human shields."