UNITED NATIONS, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply disturbed” by the Israeli airstrike Saturday that destroyed a 12-storey Gaza City building, his spokesman has said.
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric’s comments came in response to reporters’ questions as Israel unleashed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, killing 10 members of an extended family and demolishing the high-rise building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera and The Associated Press (AP), an American news agency, as well as residential apartments
The owner of the building that was demolished said he had received a call from the Israeli military warning that the building would be targeted, after which he said he had about an hour to order everyone to evacuate.
The strike was part of the ongoing Israeli aggressive actions against the Palestinians protesting evictions from East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah that has escalated over the past week between Israel and Hamas.
Dujarric, the UN secretary-general’s spokesman, said that Guterres was also “ deeply 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.”
“The Secretary-General reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs,” Dujarric added.
The statement come ahead of a planned UN Security Council meeting Sunday where diplomats will address the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians,
The violence marks some of the worst fighting in the region since Israel’s 2014 war with Hamas, which rules Gaza.
AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement following the building’s collapse that the news outlet was “shocked and horrified” that the Israeli military would target the building.
Al Jazeera also issued a statement condemning the bombing “in the strongest possible terms,” adding it viewed the attack as a “clear act to stop journalists from conducting their sacred duty to inform the world and report events on the ground.”
US President Joe Biden in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — his close ally — on Saturday “raised concerns” about the safety of journalists following the day’s attack, while he also “reaffirmed his strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza.”
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