Senior Israeli General Admits Mistake of Destroying Al-Jalaa Tower in Gaza

Israel bombed al-Jalaa Tower in central Gaza in May 2021. (AP)
Israel bombed al-Jalaa Tower in central Gaza in May 2021. (AP)
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Senior Israeli General Admits Mistake of Destroying Al-Jalaa Tower in Gaza

Israel bombed al-Jalaa Tower in central Gaza in May 2021. (AP)
Israel bombed al-Jalaa Tower in central Gaza in May 2021. (AP)

A senior general in the Israeli reserve army admitted that the operation to destroy al-Jalaa Tower in the Gaza Strip was a grave mistake, causing Israel more harm than good.

“Bringing down the tower with world news media offices was equivalent to a self-inflicted public relations terror attack,” said Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, the former head of the Israeli army operations.

Alon, who led the military’s probe into the public relations-related issues linked to the recent conflict, was referring to Israel’s military operation in Gaza in May, dubbed “Guardian of the Walls,” during which the building was bombed.

“The operational benefit was not worth the damage that it caused diplomatically and in terms of perception,” he said.

Alon made his comments at a conference hosted by Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies about the importance of public perception during military conflicts.

Israel destroyed the 12-storey tower block in Gaza housing the offices of the US-based Associated Press and other news media on May 15, saying the building was also used by the Hamas group.

It claimed the building housed Hamas military intelligence, saying its personnel there were “developing an electronic jamming system to be used against the Iron Dome defense system.”

The Israeli military said the purpose of the strike “was to curtail these enemy capabilities, including destroying special equipment and preventing their use during the operation.”

“The strike was designed to collapse the building in order to ensure the destruction of the special means.”



Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Medical Charity Condemns Israel's Use of Hunger as 'Weapon of War' in Gaza

A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A Palestinian boy at a garbage dump in central Gaza City, 12 May 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

A months-long Israeli blockade is worsening acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, medical charity Medecins du Monde warned on Tuesday, accusing Israel of using hunger as "a weapon of war".

Israel halted all aid from entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory on March 2, days before resuming its offensive triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a growing humanitarian catastrophe for the roughly 2.4 million people in Gaza, amid dwindling supplies of everything from fuel and medicine to food and clean water.

Aid reaches Gaza mainly through Israeli-controlled entry points, though the flow has fluctuated -- even before the March shutdown.

After more than a year and a half of war, acute malnutrition in Gaza has "reached levels comparable to those seen in countries facing prolonged humanitarian crises spanning several decades," AFP quoted Medecins du Monde as saying.

MDM said data from six health centers it runs in the Palestinian territory highlighted "the human responsibility for hunger in Gaza".

"Acute malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women and children depend on the Israeli authorities' decisions to allow or block humanitarian aid," it said.

The medical charity said the peaks in acute malnutrition it observed in 2024 "coincided with the sharpest decline in the monthly number of trucks delivering aid to Gaza".

MDM said it saw a peak in child acute malnutrition of 17 percent in November, during a significant reduction of humanitarian aid.

Aid access is limited to Israeli-controlled crossings, with the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt closed since the Israeli army took control of the city in spring 2024.

Israeli authorities have closed the crossing points since March 2, saying they want to force Hamas to release hostages.

The security cabinet in early May approved the "possibility of humanitarian distribution, if necessary" in Gaza, but insisted there was "currently enough food".

The UN's World Food Program in late April said it had depleted all its food stocks in the territory.

"We are not witnessing a humanitarian crisis but a crisis of humanity and moral bankruptcy with the use of hunger as a weapon of war," said Jean-Francois Corty, president of MDM.

"The failure of other countries with the power to pressure the Israeli authorities to lift this deadly siege is unacceptable and could be seen as complicity under international law," he added.

In April, one in five pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly one in four children MDM observed were suffering or were at high risk of acute malnutrition, the charity said.

The MDM report also detailed the domino effect of dwindling food reserves, as well as the destruction of agricultural facilities and sanitation systems, on the malnutrition crisis.

The organization said it could not officially declare famine underway due to a lack of comprehensive data covering the entire Palestinian territory.

The UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned Monday that Gaza was at "critical risk of famine", with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian "catastrophe".