Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed to reporters Tuesday that the U.S. received intelligence from Israel regarding its claim that the terrorist group Hamas operated out of a building housing media outlets in Gaza.
An Israeli airstrike took down a multi-story building that in part housed media offices for The Associated Press (AP) and Al Jazeera on Saturday. The move was widely decried, with AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt saying in a statement that “the world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today.”
Israel has remained firm in its reasoning for the attack, with authorities declaring that the building housed “military assets belonging to the military intelligence of the Hamas terror organisation.” A report from the Jerusalem Post cited a senior diplomatic source who said the country showed the U.S. “smoking gun” evidence that Hamas was operating out of the building.
Blinken said Monday that he personally had “not seen any information provided” regarding intelligence backing up Israeli’s claim. One day later, the Secretary of State told reporters the U.S. did receive “some further information from intelligence channels,” according to The Washington Post’s John Hudson. (RELATED: Netanyahu Says The AP Was Warned About Airstrike. Blinken Says He Hasn’t Seen Evidence Of Hamas’ Presence In Building)
Senior State Department Official on @SecBlinken remarks:
The Secretary was referring only to what he personally had seen. As he made clear, any such information would be provided to others in the administration, not directly to the Secretary of State. #israel #gaza https://t.co/HRmq5TdCfe
— Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) May 17, 2021
Blinken declined to comment further and it’s unclear what intelligence was shared.
Blinken says the US “received some further information from intelligence channels” from Israel on its bombing of the high-rise building in Gaza with international media offices (AP, Al Jazeera et al). But he says “that’s not something I can comment on.”
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) May 18, 2021