An Israeli air strike destroyed the high-rise building that housed the offices of the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and other media outlets in Gaza City on Saturday.

The 12-storey al-Jalaa building, which also contained residential flats, was levelled in the strike. The Israeli military provided warning in advance of the attack and alleged in a statement afterwards that the building contained ‘Hamas military intelligence assets,’ claiming that Hamas had deliberately hid behind the media offices there.

An Al Jazeera statement condemned the strike, saying the network saw it as “a clear act to stop journalists from conducting their sacred duty to inform the world and report events on the ground,” while AP’s CEO Gary Pruitt called it an ‘incredibly disturbing development.’

Since the outbreak of the recent hostilities at least 140 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip, while 13 have died amid unrest in the West Bank, with nine killed in Israel.