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Just rubble: the place where the skyscraper stood, where international media also had offices
Photo: Naaman Omar / imago images / ZUMA Wire
The US government has expressed concern after the Israeli Air Force attacked a high-rise building in Gaza City.
"We have told Israelis directly that ensuring the safety of journalists and independent media is a primary responsibility," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
International media offices, including the Associated Press (AP) news agency and Al Jazeera television station, also had offices in the house.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured US President Joe Biden, according to a report by Reuters news agency, that Israel is doing everything it can to prevent civilians from being harmed in the conflict.
House collapsed shortly after the attack
The Israeli army announced on Twitter that fighter jets attacked a skyscraper on Saturday in which the Islamist Hamas military intelligence service had "military resources" at its disposal.
"In the building there are offices of civil media, behind which the terrorist organization Hamas is hiding and which it is abusing as human shields." Hamas deliberately positions its military resources in the heart of densely populated residential areas in the Gaza Strip.
The house collapsed shortly after the attack.
The owner of the house had been warned of an imminent Israeli missile attack and the high-rise had been evacuated as a result of the warning.
Al Jazeera, a news channel funded by the government of Qatar, broadcast live the air strikes and the collapse of its own office.
The AP news agency reacted with horror.
"This is an incredibly worrying development," said AP President Gary Pruitt on Saturday in New York.
"We barely escaped a terrible loss of life." A dozen AP journalists and freelancers were brought to safety in good time.
A spokesman for the Hamas military arm said after the building was destroyed, Tel Aviv should prepare for a "response that will shake the earth."
nis / AP / dpa
