'Shouts, a hurried evacuation, and then the bombs came'

A high-rise building in Gaza housing the offices of Al Jazeera, Associated Press and other international media outlets was destroyed in Israeli rocket strikes on Saturday.

My colleagues’ shouts awakened me, and the pounding of my heart drowned out the racing of my mind. What was happening? Had someone been injured on the streets of Gaza City, or worse? It was 1:55 p.m. on Saturday. I had been napping on the upper floor of the two-floor penthouse that served as The Associated Press’ offices in Gaza City since 2006. This was not unusual in recent days; since fighting began earlier this month, I had been sleeping in our news bureau until early afternoon, then working through the night.