Israel destroyed over 33 media offices in Gaza bombing

Israel's bombardment has destroyed over 33 media offices in the Gaza strip during its 11-day long offensive on the blockaded enclave, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said late on Friday.

"At least 33 media offices in Gaza have been destroyed, according to we have counted so far," the head of the syndicate, Nasser Abu Bakr, said in a statement.

On Friday, journalist Yousef Abu Hussein was killed in an Israeli bombing of his home in Gaza, the syndicate's statement added.

Over 170 journalists Palestinians were injured, Abu Bakr said, adding that 70 of them were wounded during the Gaza Strip bombing, and around 100 were injured following Israeli security forces' attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. Most of the injuries in Gaza were from shrapnel from the shelling, while most in the West Bank came from tear gas, he added, without detailing the injuries' severity.

It is likely that more press offices have been damaged and attacked by the Israeli bombing, according to Anadolu Agency.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, in cooperation with international journalists, said it is "is preparing a complete report on the occupation's crimes against journalists during the aggression on the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem," the statement said, adding that they plan on submitting it to the ICC.

"It will need several months to be complete from a legal point of view", Abu Bakr added.

"The syndicate had previously submitted a similar case to the International Criminal Court last year, but the court procedures are long and complicated," he said.

He described what happened against the media as a "massacre", adding that Israel "committed terrorist acts in order to obscure the truth of its crimes".

The Syndicate on Thursday also demanded a boycott of the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’ visit to Ramallah in the West Bank, after he said Israel had a right to defend itself from what he called "this massive and unacceptable attack” from Hamas.

On May 15, an Israeli air strike destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other media outlets, which critics say was Israel’s step to silence reporting within the territory and control the narrative on the ground.