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“Give Us 10 Minutes”: How Israel Blew Up the Gaza Media Tower | Free Press

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Youmna al-Sayed is safe in less than an hour.

However, when only one elevator was in operation in the al-Jalaa Tower, an 11-story building in Gaza City contained approximately 60 residential apartments and some offices, including offices of Al Jazeera Media Network and The Associated Press, al- Sayed’s job is quite difficult stairs.

The Palestinian free reporter said: “We leave the elevator to the elderly and the children to evacuate.” She added: “We are all down the stairs, who can help the children drag them down,” “I helped the two children of the residents there. , And then I took them downstairs-everyone was running fast.”

A moment ago, the Israeli army, which had bombarded the Gaza Strip for six consecutive days, issued a telephone warning that the residents had evacuated the building only an hour before. Its fighters attacked it.

Safwat al-Kahlout of Al Jazeera also had to act quickly. al-Kahlout said that he and his colleagues “started to collect as much as possible from individuals and equipment in the office (especially cameras).”

But it takes more time.

An Associated Press reporter pleaded with an Israeli intelligence agent on the phone: “Please give me 15 minutes.” He added outside the building: “We have a lot of equipment, including cameras and other things.” “I can put Take everything out.”

The owner of the building, Jawad Mahdi, also tried to buy more time.

He told the officer: “What I want to ask is to let four people… go in and get their cameras.” “We respect your wishes. If you don’t allow it, we won’t do this, but give us 10 minutes. “

“There won’t be ten minutes,” the officer replied. “No one is allowed to enter the building. We have given you an hour to evacuate.”

When the request was denied, Mahdi said: “You have destroyed our life’s work, memory and life. I will hang up and do what you want. There is a God.”

The Israeli army claimed that the building had “military interests of the Hamas intelligence agency”, which was the standard line used after the bombing of the building in Gaza, and accused the group of operating territories using journalists as a shield for humanity. However, it did not provide evidence to support its claim.

“I have been working in this office for more than 10 years and have never seen anything. [suspicious],” Al-Kahlout said.

He added: “I even asked my colleagues if they had seen anything suspicious, and they all confirmed to me that they had never seen any military aspect, or even entered a fighter jet.”

“In our building, we have known many families for more than a decade, and we meet every day on the way in and out of the office.”

Associated Press President and CEO Gary Pruitt also told Al Jazeera: “I can tell you that our bureau has been in that building for about 15 years. Of course we don’t know Hama. Si is there.”

Al-Sayed has been reporting on the Israeli bombing of Al Jazeera and working for the Associated Press. She said she did not understand the threat posed by the construction of houses, the families of lawyers, doctors and media workers.

“Where did the alert come from? Where is Hamas or any military personnel who might be in this building?” a Gaza resident asked.

“The people here, the residents, know each other. The first five floors are the offices [closed] During the upgrade.So basically what [still here] It is the two media offices of Al Jazeera and the Associated Press, as well as residential apartments. “

Still at 12:12 GMT (3:12 pm), Israel’s first strike took place. Five minutes later, the al-Jalaa tower fell to the ground after being hit by three missiles, which blew a cloud of black dust and debris into the air. There are no reports of casualties.

“Reminiscences of many years, working in this building for many years, suddenly everything fell into ruins.” Al-Kahlout said of the tower he often broadcasts from the roof. “It disappeared.”

When Islam az-Zaeem, a lawyer working in the building, was at home, his cousin knocked on the door of the Johara building that was razed all night on May 13. And told him that al-Jalaa was about to be destroyed.

“I ran to the building and saw residents and other employees gathered outside,” az-Zaeem told Al Jazeera.

“Because of the power outage and the elevator was not working properly, I walked into the stairs. I was hysterical and fell several times in the dark, yelling and crying.”

Az-Zaeem said that there are 9 legal partners and 4 interns working on his floor.

He said: “Even after the building collapsed, I kept shouting that I forgot to lock the office door.” “Imagine it.”

The building was built in the mid-1990s and is one of the oldest high-rise buildings in Gaza City.

Fares al-Ghoul, executive director of Mayadeen Media Group, said his company was previously located in the Shorouq building, which was destroyed by Israeli missiles on May 13.

He said: “Shorouq’s top management is the target of the 2014 war.” “In 2019, we moved the company to the Al-Jalaa building because we thought it would be safer because it can accommodate the offices of international media agencies.”

He said: “Now both are destroyed.”

Jala bombing, Widely condemned Only a few hours after the Israeli air strikes on the Shati refugee camp, they tried to “suppress” journalists covering the Israeli offensive Killed 10 members of the same family -Eight children, two women-celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which is the religious holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

At least 145 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s air strikes on the Palestinian coastal territories on Monday. About 950 people were injured.

The violence occurred after Israel planned to deport Palestinian families from occupied East Jerusalem and beyond Attack on Palestinian believers The compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque triggered widespread protests in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and within Israel. Hamas said that in response to Israel’s crackdown, Hamas began to fire rockets at Israel. At least nine people were killed in Israel.

As night fell in Gaza, family members and journalists began to return to Jala, hoping to save some of the property buried in the rubble.

“A man came back to look for some of his daughter’s paintings, because these paintings have a lot of memories,” said al-Kahlout, who continued to report from the streets of the bombed enclave. “We moved outside and are now applying the emergency plan for reporting. We are working hard to ensure safety. There is no safe place in Gaza, but we are doing our best.”

At the same time, Al-Sayed went to al-Shifa Hospital, which was considered a safe space for broadcasting. She said of the flattening of al-Jalaa architecture: “This is devastating.”

“I worked in that place and I was so sad that it was tragic to see it fell to the ground. We have unforgettable memories in every part of our work and life,” she added.

“What about families who have lost their homes and everything they saved to save these apartments? In Gaza, renting an apartment is not an easy task, and now it only takes a few minutes. [they] Lose everything.

“Words cannot describe the extent of destruction, and cannot describe the tragedy that people are experiencing.”

A Palestinian policeman stands in the rubble of the Al-Jalaa building [Mohammed Salem/Reuters]

With other reports @LinahAlsaafin.



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