Destruction of the al-Jalaa Building

The al-Jalaa tower was a 12-story residential and commercial building in Gaza City that housed international media offices, including those of AP and Al Jazeera, alongside other offices and apartments.[1] A Jerusalem Post account described it as having been built in the 1990s and owned by Gaza businessman Jawad Mahdi, whose extended family lived in several apartments there; the building also contained legal offices and medical clinics.[5]

The strike occurred during Operation Guardian of the Walls, the May 10–21, 2021 conflict. The U.S. Department of State’s report described the destruction of a building housing AP and Al Jazeera headquarters, although it did not identify the building by name or give the strike date.[2] The report placed the incident within a broader campaign in which the IDF launched 1,500 airstrikes against targets in Gaza and Israeli airstrikes destroyed 1,800 homes, including five residential towers; those figures concern the wider conflict, not al-Jalaa specifically.[2]

On May 15, 2021, Israeli aircraft struck the al-Jalaa building, causing it to collapse.[1][6] Contemporary reports said the tower contained offices of AP, Al Jazeera, and other media outlets, together with residential and commercial premises.[1][7] AP president and CEO Gary Pruitt said about a dozen AP journalists and freelancers had been in the building and evacuated before it was destroyed.[1]

The IDF said occupants were warned before the attack. Reports described telephone warnings, a period of about an hour, and two “knock on the roof” warning strikes.[1][7] Accounts differ on the duration: Mahdi was reported as saying he had one hour to evacuate the occupants, whereas then-IDF Operations Directorate chief Aharon Haliva later described the warning period as lasting hours.[7][8] A Jerusalem Post account said Mahdi received a call at about 2 p.m.; at about 3 p.m., after reporting that everyone had left, he unsuccessfully requested ten more minutes for AP personnel to retrieve equipment. The building was struck within minutes.[5]

The tower’s collapse was broadcast live.[6] Netanyahu said there had been no deaths from the strike.[1] Pruitt warned that “the world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today.”[1]

Israel’s public justification was that the tower contained Hamas military-intelligence assets.[1] Later Israeli explanations attributed research and development, electronic-warfare systems, and other technology intended to interfere with Israeli military or air-defense systems to the building.[8][9] These remained Israeli military claims: the cited reporting did not independently establish the alleged activity, and the intelligence supporting the strike was not made public in the reviewed accounts.[1][2]

Israel said it had shared intelligence with U.S. officials, describing it as compelling evidence of Hamas’s presence. The Jerusalem Post reported, however, that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had not seen evidence that Hamas operated from the same building as AP.[1] Pruitt said AP had maintained its bureau there for 15 years and had no indication Hamas was present or active; he asked Israel for evidence and called for an independent investigation.[3] The State Department report likewise recorded that AP and others continued to call for an investigation and that Israel had not made the intelligence public.[2]

The strike drew widespread international criticism and became a prominent diplomatic and media issue during the operation.[10][4] An INSS strategic-communications analysis called it the operation’s most notable media event, reported that President Joe Biden called Netanyahu afterward and that Senator Bob Menendez criticized Israel, and argued that Israel could have waived the target, struck only the alleged Hamas office, or prepared intelligence material and a communications plan before destroying the tower.[4] Mahdi was reported to have lodged a complaint against Israel with the International Criminal Court, alleging that there were no military targets in the building and that the attack was a war crime; the cited account said an organization operating in Belgium was handling the complaint.[11]

The strike’s military rationale, legal basis, and proportionality remained disputed in subsequent accounts. An INSS legal analysis discussed the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions, noting that targeted multi-story buildings were reportedly evacuated after advance warnings. Its legal argument depended on the IDF’s claim that military equipment was present in al-Jalaa; the analysis did not independently establish that claim.[12]

Criticism also came from within Israel’s military establishment. Former IDF general Nitzan Alon, who conducted one of the IDF probes into the May 2021 operation, called the demolition an “own-goal” and argued that its military benefit did not match the political and reputational damage to Israel; the report noted that other IDF personnel did not share his view.[13] Other Israeli officials reportedly opposed the strike because they believed the building’s alleged strategic value did not outweigh the damage to Israel’s standing, while others defended it. The strike was reported to have been approved by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi and Defense Minister Benny Gantz.[14]

Human Rights Watch was reported to have found no evidence that people involved in military operations had a current or long-term presence in the high-rise buildings it examined, including al-Jalaa, and urged Israel to publish its evidence. Those were the organization’s reported findings and assessment, not a judicial ruling.[15] The cited sources do not report the outcome of an independent investigation or a public release of the intelligence Israel said informed the strike.[2]