The ABC's Melbourne office has been vandalised after red paint was splattered on windows and messages about the Israel-Palestine conflict scrawled across the building.
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The national broadcaster's Southbank office in Melbourne's CBD had its front window daubed with "Tell the truth about Palestine" in white paint overnight and red paint was splashed on the building's doors.
Intergenerational conflicts in the Middle East region involving Palestinians and Israelis escalated on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza.
More than 1200 people died and up to another 200 were taken hostage, according to the United Nations.
Israel's subsequent military action has resulted in the deaths of around 20,000 people in Gaza, with the UN citing unconfirmed data provided by the local ministry of health and Gaza Government Media Office.
Police opened an investigation into the "criminal damage incident" at the commercial premises on Friday.
"Officers were called to reports unknown offenders had spray painted sections of the building on Southbank Boulevard about 3.50am," a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
An ABC spokesman confirmed no one was hurt in the incident.
"There was minimal damage," he said.
Video footage shared on social media shows two people wearing black clothing and one in a plastic poncho running towards the office before vandalising the exterior.
The post's caption said the video was sent in by an anonymous user and included a message from "concerned community members" declaring the ABC had "blood on your hands".
"Your support of "Israels" (sic) propoganda (sic) campaign is unethical, cowardly, and violent," the message said.
It accused the broadcaster of being "complicit" and condemned its "shameful coverage" of the conflict.
The media president of the union Karen Percy said the incident was very distressing and was not the way to register a complaint about the ABC's editorial output.
"Staff have a right to feel safe and to be treated with respect," Ms Percy said.
"Citizens in a mature democracy should not resort to base tactics to make a point."
It's the second time in a week the office was targeted.
The portraits and names of 40 Palestinian journalists killed in the conflict were plastered to the national broadcaster's office windows and doors on Wednesday.
Nine's Melbourne newspaper The Age and TV office also faced protests on Wednesday after activists staged a "die-in" at the entrance to the headquarters in Docklands.
The group, who were behind fake corpses placed outside seven Labor MPs' offices in November, donned press vests to protest the deaths of 95 journalists in Gaza, alleging "silence" from Australian media outlets.
Australian Associated Press
