The Israeli military destroyed a high-rise in Gaza City on Friday, shortly after announcing it would target tall buildings identified as being used by Hamas ahead of its planned seizure of the Palestinian territory's biggest city.

Despite mounting pressure at home and abroad to halt its nearly two-year offensive in Gaza, Israel has been calling up reservists, intensifying its bombardments and closing in on Gaza City.

In a statement Friday, the military said it had "identified significant Hamas terrorist activity within a wide variety of infrastructure sites in Gaza City, and particularly in high-rise buildings", adding it would target those sites "in the coming days".

Less than an hour later, it said it had struck one such high-rise, accusing Hamas of using it "to advance and execute attacks against troops in the area".

AFP footage showed the Mushtaha Tower in the city's Al-Rimal neighbourhood collapsing after a massive explosion at its base, sending a thick cloud of smoke and dust billowing into the sky.

AFP photographs of the aftermath showed Palestinians inspecting the rubble and debris of the collapsed building.

The army said that before the strike, "precautionary measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to........

© Al Monitor