Several major news outlets erroneously reported a ground offensive was underway in Gaza, but well-placed commentators in Israel say it was an elaborate ruse to lure Hamas militants into a deadly trap.
Palestinians inspect the Abo Hatab family house after an Israeli air strike struck their house located in al-Shati Refugee Camp without warning during the night, in Gaza City early on May 15, 2021. Israel faced a widening conflict on May 14, as deadly violence erupted across the West Bank amid a massive aerial bombardment in Gaza and unprecedented unrest among Arabs and Jews inside the country. The West Bank clashes, described as among the most intense since the second intifada that began in 2000, left 11 people dead from Israeli fire, the Palestinian health ministry said, as overall fatalities from strikes on Gaza rose to 139. Photo by Ashraf Amra (c) APA Images
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
As we reported earlier, Israel leveled a building that was shared by various media outlets, including the AP and Al Jazeera, and Hamas.
They gave the media about an hour to get out with ample notice and then they took out the building.
6/ All the multi-story buildings targeted by the IDF were used for military purposes within each building.
After providing advance warning to civilians & time to evacuate, IDF fighter jets struck a multi-story building containing Hamas military intelligence assets.
The building contained civilian media offices, which Hamas hides behind and deliberately uses as human shields. pic.twitter.com/zeDjEquePD