Press offices in the Gaza Strip fired with rockets “after the warning”: the collapse of a building | Instagram VTM News

The owner of the building would have been warned before the attack that Israel would launch a missile attack. This allowed people to be evacuated from the tower. After the missile attack, the building completely collapsed. “I worked in that building for eleven years,” says Al-Jazeera correspondent, Safwat Al-Kahlout. “Now everything is gone in just two seconds.”

AFP journalists saw how the thirteen-storey building was destroyed by several missiles. “Bombs could fall on our office. We ran up the stairs from the eleventh floor and now see the building from afar,” Faris Akram, an Associated Press correspondent in the Gaza Strip, tweeted shortly before the missile attack. “This is an incredibly frightening development,” said Gary Pruitt, President and CEO of AP New York. “He narrowly escaped the loss of human lives.”

“We told Israel right away that protecting the safety of journalists and independent media is a priority responsibility,” White House spokeswoman Jane Psaki said. The director of Al-Jazeera’s office in Palestine and Israel, Walid Amman, spoke of a “crime” and an “attempt to silence the media.”

An Israeli army spokesman confirms the attack and the warning. The building was targeted because of “military information from Hamas.” The spokesman confirmed that they “were given plenty of time to evacuate.” Nothing is known yet about the possible victims.

In addition to international media, the building also houses offices for other organizations and apartments.

There were also rocket attacks in the Tel Aviv area today. At least one person could have died. The missile alarm went off three times in quick succession. Repeatedly heard sirens and explosions. This is the eighth wave of the attack on the Tel Aviv gathering, since Tuesday evening.

In the suburb of Ramat Gan, where two rockets fell today, according to the Israeli police, a 50-year-old man was fatally wounded, according to health workers.

According to the latest estimate by the Palestinian authorities, the escalating conflict has already killed 126 people in recent days, including 31 children. More than 950 people were wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The Israelis and Palestinian militants have been bombing each other for days. Israeli forces say more than 2,000 rockets have been fired from the Palestinian sector on the coast since Monday. Israel responded with large-scale air strikes on targets in the area.