AP Exec Editor Calls for ‘Independent Investigation’ Into Israeli Strike, Says AP Wasn’t Told Before Yesterday Hamas May Have Been in Building

Associated Press executive editor Sally Buzbee was booked as a guest on CNN’s Reliable Sources to discuss being chosen the next executive editor of the Washington Post, making her the first woman in that role.

However, Buzbee ended up joining Stelter for another segment of the show, in response to the Israeli airstrike on a building that housed offices for Al Jazeera and the AP’s Gaza bureau.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the strike on another Sunday show and said Israel had intel it was a “perfectly legitimate target.”

Stelter pressed an IDF spokesperson for what proof they have before talking with Buzbee.

Buzbee told Stelter that AP employees in Gaza are “doing fine” and are “focused on telling the story fairly.”

“They’re rattled, but they are working today,” she said.

At one point Stelter asked, “Do you believe that the Israeli government’s, the Israeli military’s explanation that Hamas was operating in the same building?”

“We’re not taking sides in the actual conflict,” Buzbee responded. “The Associated Press does not take sides in conflicts. But we’re in favor and what we do believe in is protecting the world’s right to know what is going on in this conflict or in any conflict.”

Stelter more directly asked, “Were you ever informed before yesterday that Hamas might be operating there in the building?”

“No,” Buzbee responded.

“Because there have been stories in the past, including from a former AP reporter,” Stelter continued, “who claims that rockets would lift off from Gaza toward Israel and the Gaza bureau would look the other way. There’s been questions in the past about the Gaza bureau.”

Buzbee reiterated that journalists in the AP’s Gaza bureau are covering the conflict fairly.

“We have been in that building for 15 years and we have operated in Gaza under very tough conditions and have tried to tell what is said,” she added, before calling for “an independent investigation” into what happened.

“We’ve heard the Israelis say they have evidence. We don’t know what that evidence is. We think it is appropriate at this point for there to be an independent look at what happened yesterday.”

You can watch above, via CNN.