“Clearly there is a decision not only to sow destruction and killing, but also to silence those who broadcast it,” Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera head for Israel and the occupied territories, told AFP.
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.
Israel claimed that “military intelligence” of Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers, were also in the building.
The Associated Press said it was “shocked and horrified” by the Israeli airstrike.
“This is an incredibly disturbing development. We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement about the attack on the building, which also housed Qatar-based Al Jazeera.
“The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what happened today,” Pruitt said.
The White House meanwhile said it has cautioned Israel about the importance of protecting independent media.
“We have communicated directly to the Israelis that ensuring the safety and security of journalists and independent media is a paramount responsibility,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted.
A news camera captured the moment the building collapsed:
Earlier, an Israeli strike on a three-storey building in the Shati refugee camp killed 10 members of an extended family -- two related mothers and their four children each. Israel’s army said the building was used by “Hamas terror organisation senior officials”.
An Israeli man was also killed after a rocket fired from Gaza hit his building in Ramat Gan in central Israel. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) posted footage of the scene and said they “will not let this terror go unanswered”.
Israel’s bombardment began Monday, after the Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas fired rockets towards Jerusalem.
That was in response to bloody Israeli police action at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, as well as a crackdown on protests against the planned Israeli expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in annexed east Jerusalem.
Israeli air and artillery strikes on Gaza since Monday have killed 139 people including 39 children, and wounded 1,000 more, health officials say.
Palestinian armed groups have fired hundreds of rockets at Israel since, killing 10 people, including a child and a soldier. More than 560 Israelis have been wounded.
This is a developing story.
Israel pounds Gaza as US envoy arrives for talks
Foreign Minister Asselborn warns of risk of Israel civil war
