Israel warned residents of the building, which also housed residential apartments and therefore the AP bureau, to evacuate an hour before the air attack.
A building that housed international media offices including Al Jazeera’s within the Gaza Strip has been hit by an Israeli air attack that demolished the structure.
It was not immediately clear if there have been casualties in Saturday’s attack. Live Al Jazeera video showed the 11-story Al-Jalaa building, which also houses a variety of residences and other offices, crashing to the bottom after being bombed as dust and debris flew into the air.
The building also housed The Associated Press press agency bureau.
Al Jazeera’s Safwat al-Kahlout, reporting from Gaza City, said a resident of the building received a call from the Israeli army warning of the approaching attack about an hour before it had been hit.
Al-Kahlout, who was within the building at the time, said he and colleagues “started to gather the maximum amount as they might, from the private and equipment of the office, especially the cameras”.
After watching a minimum of three missiles hitting the building, and its subsequent collapse, al-Kahlout said he had worked at the building for 11 years, and sometimes did live reporting from its roof.
“I am covering many events from this building,” he said. “We have many good memories with our colleagues.”
It was not immediately made clear why the building was targeted by Israel but comes as many structures are demolished, sometimes after a warning call or missile “tap”, by Israeli attacks within the Palestinian enclave.
“Now, one can understand the sensation of the people whose homes are destroyed by such quite air attacks,” al-Kahlout said. “It’s really difficult to awaken at some point then you realize that your office isn't there with all the career experiences, memories that you’ve had.”
In Gaza, a minimum of 140 people is killed, including 39 children and 22 women, since the Israeli bombardment began on Monday.
In Israel, a minimum of nine people is killed in rocket attacks from armed groups in Gaza.
Early on Saturday, an air raid hit a three-story house in Gaza City’s Shati camp, killing eight children and two women from a relative.
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