Palestinians check rubbles of Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 15, 2021. Israel said Saturday it struck the high-rise building in Gaza City housing offices of international media outlets because it contained assets of Hamas intelligence agency.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments, in Gaza City, on May 15, 2021. Israel said Saturday it struck the high-rise building in Gaza City housing offices of international media outlets because it contained assets of Hamas intelligence agency.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Rescuers check rubbles of Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 15, 2021. Israel said Saturday it struck the high-rise building in Gaza City housing offices of international media outlets because it contained assets of Hamas intelligence agency. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

Rescuers check rubbles of Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments, after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 15, 2021. Israel said Saturday it struck the high-rise building in Gaza City housing offices of international media outlets because it contained assets of Hamas intelligence agency. (Photo: Xinhua)

 
Israel said Saturday it struck a high-rise building in Gaza City housing offices of international media outlets because it contained assets of Hamas intelligence agency.

Israeli war jets bombed and demolished Jala Tower, which housed offices of Al-Jazeera TV and Associated Press as well as residential apartments.

The building "contained military assets belonging to the intelligence offices of Hamas," said an Israeli military spokesperson in a statement.

No evidence for the claim has been provided.

The spokesperson said that Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, hides behind civilian media offices and used them as "human shields," alleging that Hamas "deliberately places military targets at the heart of densely populated civilian areas in the Gaza Strip."

Eyewitnesses said Israeli military drones fired the first two rockets at the high-rise, and then Israeli fighter jets fired four bombs at the building and leveled it to the ground.

No injury was reported. Prior to the strike, the Israeli army said it "provided warnings in advance to civilians in the building and gave sufficient time for them to evacuate from the site."

Following the destruction of the building, Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that it will soon strike Tel Aviv with more rockets in retaliation.

The assault came amid the worst violence between Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave since 2014.

Militant groups in Gaza continued firing barrages of rockets targeting cities in northern, central and southern Israel. A spokesperson of the Israeli army said in a statement that more than 200 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel in the last 12 hours.

It is reported that rockets fired by militant groups in Gaza have killed 10 people, including a 5-year-old boy, a soldier, and two women. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said since Monday more than 140 Palestinians have been killed, including 40 children and 20 women, and about 1,000 others injured.