'Perfectly Legitimate Target': Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Defends Air Strike On Gaza Tower Housing Associated Press

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the airstrike on the Gaza tower alleging it also hosted a Palestinian "terrorist" intelligence office. He called it a "perfectly legitimate target."

The tower houses the Associated Press and Al Jazeera Bureaus.

"Here's the intelligence we had," Netanyahu told the media. "An intelligence office for the Palestinian terrorist organization (was) housed in that building that plots and organizes the terror attacks against Israeli civilians," reported India Today.

The PM also claimed that they took every precaution to make sure no civilian was hurt. "In fact, no deaths," he told the media.

However, the Associated Press said Israel had not yet provided it with evidence of militant activity in the building, which was reduced to rubble by the strike. It also sought an independent investigation into what happened.

The executive editor of Associated Press, Sally Buzbee said, "We're in a conflict situation. We do not take sides in that conflict. We have heard the Israelis say they have evidence. We don't know what that evidence is."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday pleaded for an immediate end to the outbreak of deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence, warning that the fighting could plunge the region into an "uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis."

Meanwhile, the United States President Joe Biden on Saturday underscored Israel's right to defend itself in a phone call with Netanyahu. He also expressed "grave concern" over the violence as well as for the safety of journalists.

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