Rescue workers search for survivors after Gaza building collapse

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - An apartment building in Gaza City collapsed overnight, killing 21 people including five children, according to Gaza authorities. The six-story structure, which housed four apartments per floor, crumbled onto nearby homes and tents in the Tal al-Hawa area, the civil defense agency reported. The tragedy struck the building, which had already been damaged by previous Israeli strikes throughout the ongoing war with Hamas.

At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, distraught relatives gathered to mourn their loved ones, with weeping men carrying children wrapped in white shrouds. Ahmed Al-Ajla, whose uncle and other relatives perished in the collapse, lamented the building's instability, stating, "Before his death, my uncle... had endured displacement, poverty, imprisonment and loss. The war is not over, for there remain ticking time bombs in the form of houses on the verge of collapse."

The collapsed building housed more than 100 displaced individuals and had sustained damage from earlier Israeli strikes. Civil defense teams recovered 21 bodies from the rubble over hours of arduous work, and transported 45 injured people to the hospital. The agency's spokesman, Mahmoud Basal, said the building had been hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, prompting warnings for residents not to return despite the lack of alternative shelter.

The International Committee of the Red Cross provided materials to support the search effort after the request of local authorities. Israel initiated relentless strikes on Gaza following the Oct 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which claimed over 1,200 lives. The conflict has resulted in over 73,700 casualties, according to Gaza's health ministry, the figures considered reliable by the United Nations.

Yemini UN humanitarian coordinator, Ramiz Alakbarov expressed his devastation by the news, emphasizing the dire risks faced by families living in unstable buildings and the urgent need for safer alternatives. Gaza's civil defense agency identified around 2,000 buildings in the territory deemed at risk of collapse. While Israel has granted additional aid into Gaza since the declaration of a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025, it continues striking and restricting the entry of equipment deemed to have potential military use.