The White House, on Saturday, said that it has cautioned Israel about the importance of protecting independent media. This comes after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza destroyed a building housing the bureaus of the Associated Press and Al Jazeera.

“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.

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An Israeli airstrike leveled a 13-floor building that was housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera television and American news agency The Associated Press in the Gaza Strip, news agency AFP reported.

Israel “destroyed Jala Tower in the Gaza Strip, which contains the Al Jazeera and other international press offices,” Al Jazeera said in a tweet, with an AP journalist saying the army had warned the tower’s owner ahead of the strike.

AFP journalists watched the building collapse to the ground after the Israeli airstrike, sending up a huge mushroom cloud of dust and debris.

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Earlier, thousands of protesters in London and Madrid marched in support of Palestinians on Saturday as the worst violence in years raged between Israel and militants in Gaza.

In London, several thousand protesters carrying placards reading “Stop Bombing Gaza” and chanting “Free Palestine” converged on Marble Arch, near the British capital’s Hyde Park, to march towards the Israeli embassy.

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In Madrid, some 2,500 people, many of them young people wrapped in Palestinian flags, marched to the Puerta del Sol plaza in the city centre.

Israel and Palestine are involved in deadly clashes with airstrikes and rockets being fired from both sides. Over 100 Palestinians, including 27 children, have been killed. In Israel, seven people have been killed since Monday, including a six-year-old, after a rocket struck a family home.