JERUSALEM 

Israel’s bombardment of high-rise buildings in the Gaza Strip was a way to vent frustration caused by the failure to stop rocket fire from Gaza, an Israeli pilot revealed on Saturday.

Israeli Channel 12 interviewed a number of Israeli pilots who participated in bombing nine multi-story residential buildings, including the one that housed foreign media outlets in Gaza.

"I went on a mission to carry out airstrikes with a feeling that destroying the towers is a way to vent frustration over what is happening to us and over success of the groups in Gaza in kicking us,” one of the pilots said.

“We failed to stop the rocket fire and to harm the leadership of these groups, so we destroyed the towers,” he added.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Palestinian factions in Gaza fired around 4,000 rockets into Israel, causing the death of 12 people along with hundreds of injuries.

In the course of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, Israeli military destroyed nine multi-story buildings, claiming that they were being used by the Palestinian groups. Rights watchdogs have demanded an international probe into the Israeli claims.

At least 279 Palestinians were killed, including 69 children and 40 women, and 1,910 others injured in recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The fighting, the fiercest in years, came to a halt on Friday under an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara