UN “deeply disturbed” by Israel’s strike on international press

The Israeli destroying of a tower block in Gaza housing several international media was met with condemnations from media but also from the secretary general of the United Nations.

International media said the destroying of the building was meant to silence reporting about the consequences of Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu though repeated that the block held Hamas military and was a legitimate target.

The block collapsed after being hit but had been evacuated beforehand after the owner received a warning by Israel in advance of the attack, Reuters reported.

In a statement released shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said the building housed military assets belonging to Hamas.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “dismayed” by civilian casualties in Gaza and “deeply disturbed” by Israel’s strike on a building containing international media outlets, a UN spokesman.

“The Secretary-General is dismayed by the increasing number of civilian casualties, including the death of ten members of the same family, including children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike last night in the al-Shati camp in Gaza, purportedly aimed at a Hamas leader,” Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in the written response to questions on the Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

Guterres was “also deeply disturbed by the destruction by an Israeli airstrike today of a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed the offices of several international media organizations as well as residential apartments,” Dujarric wrote.