ARCHIVE: Israeli Foreign Ministry Spox. Challenged On Gaza, Apartheid State, Illegal Occupation

FIRST AIRED: 22/05/2021. On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Paul Hirschson. Afshin Rattansi challenges him on the Gaza death toll, which has risen to 248 including 66 children, the Israeli bombing of a media office hosting the Associated Press and Al Jazeera in Gaza, illegal settlements and occupation of Palestinian land, accusations of Israel being an apartheid state, Palestine’s right to resistance and much more! Hirchson also discusses Israel’s growing ties with the leaderships of other Arab countries and the perspective of the Israeli government on how it will achieve peace with the Palestinian people.

We contacted AP about the allegations in this show and they forwarded us to these comments made by Israeli Ambassador to the US and UN, Gilad Erdan:

“We transferred through the customary channels the information between the agencies. We also shared with the Americans, American administration, the considerations. The State of Israel is a country where freedom of press is a clear value, and I explained that to AP’s president, Gary Pruitt, who I met this evening. And I think that we explained to him that such decisions of shelling terrorist military targets are not made lightly in Israel. There is an orderly process that also goes through legal consultations. They check that it conforms with international law, and that it is indeed a military target, and I think he showed understanding, and even appreciated the fact that an early alert was given. Of course, I understand their feelings as a news agency going through an experience like this. I can also tell you that as a state, we don’t have information as to whether AP knew or did not know that Hamas is in that building, because the unit that was operating there was a secret unit. It can be said it’s more likely they were not aware of the existence of Hamas in the building. Again, I hope my meeting with AP’s president somewhat contributed to the re-setting of relations between Israel and the agency, because there was nothing personal here against it of course, and we neutralized there a very very significant target.”

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