Israeli air strike destroys Gaza tower housing AP, Al Jazeera offices

An Israeli air strike destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other media outlets on Saturday, the latest step by the military to silence reporting from the territory amid its battle with Hamas.

The owner of the building — Jala Tower — had been warned in advance of an impending Israeli missile strike, a Reuters reporter said, and the building had been evacuated.

Video footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed the moment the 12-storey building collapsed after the strike as plumes of dark smoke rose in the sky.

"The tower has come down," the anchorwoman said in the video. "Whenever you see journalists doing live updates from Gaza, they're usually standing on the roof of that building which has now been flattened by an air strike by the Israeli military," she added.

"This channel will not be silenced. Al-Jazeera will not be silenced," the on-air anchorwoman said, her voice thick with emotion. "We can guarantee you that right now."

The Israeli military did not immediately provide comments on the incident.

The building also contained a number of apartments and other offices.

The strike came hours after another Israeli air raid on a densely populated refugee camp in Gaza City killed at least 10 Palestinians from an extended family, mostly children, in the deadliest single strike of the current violence.

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