Over a year after the building housing the news agency’s Gaza bureau was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, The Associated Press announced today it has reopened its Gaza Strip offices in a new location.
AP President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham and Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace were on site to mark the bureau’s official reopening.
“AP’s resilient Gaza team has never wavered, even in the moments our bureau collapsed and in the weeks that followed,” said AP President and CEO Daisy Veerasingham. “The Associated Press has operated in Gaza for more than half a century and remains committed to telling the story of Gaza and its people.”
The news agency’s Gaza staff continued to cover the war and its aftermath from temporary workspaces after the bureau was destroyed last year.
Twelve AP staffers and freelancers were inside on May 15, 2021, when the Israeli military telephoned a warning, giving occupants of the building one hour to evacuate. AP journalists rushed to a neighboring tower to capture live video of the building crumbling.
In the days and weeks following the airstrike, the Israeli government claimed Hamas had been operating inside the building. AP has repeatedly pressed for any evidence to be made public, but none has been provided.
Contact
Lauren Easton
Global Director of Media Relations and Corporate Communications
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
leaston@ap.org
Nicole Meir
Media Relations Manager
The Associated Press
212-621-7536
nmeir@ap.org
