The strike on the building housing media offices in Gaza City came on Saturday afternoon, after the owner received a call from the Israeli military warning that the building was about to be hit.
Jawad Mehdi, the owner of the Jala Tower, said an Israeli intelligence officer warned him he had just one hour to ensure the evacuation of the building, the AFP news agency reports.
In a phone call with the officer, AFP heard him beg for an extra 10 minutes to allow journalists to retrieve their equipment before leaving. “Give us 10 extra minutes,” he urged, but the officer on the other end of the line refused.
Al-Jazeera, the news network funded by Qatar’s government, broadcast the air strikes live as the building collapsed.
“This channel will not be silenced. Al Jazeera will not be silenced,” Al Jazeera English presenter Halla Mohieddeen said with emotion. “We can guarantee you that right now.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Safwat al-Kahlout, who had been working out of these offices in Gaza City for 11 years, said: “I’ve been covering many events from this building, we’ve lived personal professional experiences; now everything, in two seconds, just vanished”.
Israel’s military has confirmed that it fired missiles at a Gaza tower block housing the offices of news outlets Al Jazeera and the Associated Press.
Israel said in a statement on Twitter that the building had housed “military assets” belonging to Hamas, which had used the occupants as “human shields”.
The building – which contained other offices and apartments as well – was evacuated before the strike after a warning from Israeli authorities.
