Israel unleashes airstrikes in escalating conflict with Hamas
Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot joins 'Special Report' with the latest from Tel Aviv
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., took aim at the Associated Press for allegedly sharing a workspace with Hamas after Israel operated a military strike against a building in Gaza the Jewish State claims housed offices for the terrorist organization.
There was an international outcry among journalists over the weekend after Israel destroyed a building that included the Gaza bureaus of media outlets like the Associated Press and Al Jazeera over intelligence that Hamas had military operations at that location. Journalists and residents were warned and evacuated before the strike was conducted.
While the Associated Press denied having any prior knowledge of Hamas' presence in the 15 years of being located in that building, Cotton expressed far more skepticism on the Senate floor.
"Why is the Associated Press sharing a building with Hamas?" Cotton asked on Monday. "Surely these intrepid reporters knew who their neighbors were."
He continued, "Did they knowingly allow themselves to be used as human shields by a US-designated terrorist organization? Did the AP pull its punches and decline to report for years on Hamas’ misdeeds?"
The GOP senator went on to mock the "whiny reporters" who have shifted the Israel-Hamas conflict to focus on "themselves."
"I submit that the AP has some uncomfortable questions to answer, yet the AP and its fellow journalists are in high dudgeon about Israel’s wholly appropriate airstrike," Cotton said. "Leave it to whiny reporters to make themselves the story and the victim when terrorists are shooting missiles at innocent civilians."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
While journalists are demanding Israel to release its intel that proved Hamas was located in the same building as international media outlets, former Obama aide Tommy Vietor seemed to back the assertion.
"I'm sure Hamas offices were in that building & that they purposefully co-locate operations with civilians. But that is not a new problem," Vietor tweeted. "And if the IDF wants to claim that the military effort is targeted, precise, etc...then you shouldn't hit that building."
A Twitter user then asked Vietor why he was "sure" that Hamas was located in that building.
He replied, "I talked to people who worked in the building."