Video Shows Moment Israel Obliterates High-Rise Palestine Tower in Gaza

Hours after Hamas suddenly launched an attack on Israel on Saturday, a video posted to social media shows the moment Israel destroyed Palestine Tower, a high-rise apartment building in Gaza.

The surprise assault began early Saturday in Israel as Hamas fired thousands of rockets, while dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have since been battling with Palestinian fighters. Following the first attack, Al Jazeera's Youmna El Sayed was reporting live from Gaza when an Israeli missile hit the Palestine Tower, which also houses Hamas offices, behind her.

In the video that was posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, before the reporter has time to answer a question from her colleague regarding the conflict, viewers can see the tower right behind her as its hit, with a loud explosion suddenly going off leaving the air filled with thick black smoke.

Addressing the ongoing conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the country was at war with Hamas.

"We are at war, not an operation, not an escalation, a war," he said.

Following the explosion of the tower in Gaza, a Hamas rocket barrage into central Israel hit four cities, including Tel Aviv and a nearby suburb, according to the Associated Press.

As reported by the AP, Israel's national rescue service said at least 200 people were killed and 1,100 wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades. At least 198 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed and at least 1,610 wounded in Israeli strikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

While tensions rise and actions escalate between Israel and Hamas, more videos and photos on social media are continuing to reflect the events unfolding.

In a series of posts shared to X, Hananya Naftali, an Israeli man who says he is taking shelter, shared his experience of what he is witnessing.

"Israeli Air Force destroyed the 'Palestine Tower' in Gaza affiliated with Hamas. The mainstream media show this and present Israel as if we are the bad guys, forgetting that Hamas fired today 4000 rockets into Israeli cities, kidnapped and murdered civilians," Naftali wrote on X, along with a video showing the explosion of the high rise.

While other videos and photos continue to circulate depicting the violent conflict, leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, said the assault was in response to the 16-year blockade of Gaza, and references the Israeli raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, according to AP.

"Enough is enough," Deif, who does not appear in public, said in a recorded message. He added that the attack was only the start of what he called "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm," and called on Palestinians from east Jerusalem to northern Israel to join the fight. "Today the people are regaining their revolution."

Newsweek has reached out to both Israel and Hamas officials for additional comment.

"The United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza, and I made clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel," President Joe Biden said in a statement emailed to Newsweek by the White House. "Terrorism is never justified."

The United Nations' Secretary-General António Guterres also "strongly" condemned Hamas' actions.

"The attacks have so far claimed numerous Israeli civilian lives and injured many hundreds," a spokesperson for Guterres said in an official statement. "The Secretary-General is appalled by reports that civilians have been attacked and abducted from their own homes."