Shocked and horrified: AP, Al Jazeera condemn Israeli airstrike on Gaza office

Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera and US news
agency Associated Press both spoke out on Saturday against an Israeli airstrike
that destroyed a building housing offices of both the organisations, AFP
reported.

”It is clear that those who are waging this war do
not only want to spread destruction and death in Gaza, but also to silence
media that are witnessing, documenting and reporting the truth of what is
happening in Gaza”, Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem Bureau chief, was
quoted by AFP as saying.

The attack on the 13-storey Jala Tower in Gaza left
the structure obliterated moments after the strike, with an Al Jazeera
broadcast showing a huge dust cloud billowing out of the debris.

Also read: Israel airstrikes hit Gaza building with offices of AP, Al Jazeera

Jawad Mehdi, owner of the Jala Tower, said an
Israeli intelligence official had warned him, saying he had an hour to safely evacuate
people out of the building.

US-based AP, on the other hand, said it was ‘shocked
and horrified’ by the strike.

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“This is an incredibly disturbing development. We
narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life.

The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza
because of what happened today”, AFP quoted AP President and CEO Garry Pruitt
as saying regarding the incident.

Pruitt further noted that about 12 AP journalists and freelancers were in the building but were able to successfully evacuate.