The Al Jazeera team was reporting live as the Palestine Tower, directly behind them, came under attack by Israeli forces.
Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip have leveled a tower in the heart of Gaza City as large-scale fighting between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military left hundreds of people dead.
Saturday’s attack on the Palestine Tower came hours after Hamas, the group that rules the besieged Gaza Strip, launched a multi-pronged attack, firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters into Israel.
The hit was caught live on camera as Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed reported from another building nearby.
Watch the moment Israeli warplanes attack the Palestine Tower behind Al Jazeera’s Youmna El Sayed as she reports live from Gaza ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/dXHVRJiCOC
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 7, 2023
“The building was completely destroyed and leveled,” she said afterwards. “If you look at all the adjacent buildings, you can imagine the extent of the destruction [the vicinity].”
There was no immediate information about any victims.
The Israeli Air Force said in a statement that its warplanes hit two high-rise buildings in Gaza, claiming they housed Hamas “military infrastructure.”
It was not immediately clear whether one of those buildings the Air Force was referring to was the Palestine Tower.
The moment the tower was hit [Al Jazeera screengrab]
Not the first time
Israel has a track record of carrying out attacks on residential buildings and towers in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
These actions, described by the Israeli army as “precision strikes” against armed groups, often take place in densely populated areas and have resulted in civilian casualties.
During an 11-day conflict in Gaza in 2021, Israel attacked four towers and destroyed three of them, including one that housed the offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press news agency.
London-based human rights group Amnesty International has previously raised concerns about Israel’s military tactics, claiming that the recurring attacks on residential buildings in Gaza showed a disregard for the well-being of Palestinian civilians and could potentially constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.