A war-damaged residential building has collapsed in Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 Palestinians, including five children, while leaving dozens more trapped under heaps of concrete and twisted metal. Palestinian Civil Defence authorities confirmed that the six-storey structure gave way overnight.
Emergency response teams rushed to the site immediately following the disaster.
Verified footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed rescue workers and local residents clawing through the wreckage by hand, desperately attempting to reach survivors whose cries could be heard from beneath the debris. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defence, stated that rescue crews are severely handicapped by a lack of appropriate heavy machinery, leaving nearly 100 individuals still unaccounted for beneath the massive pile of rubble.
Local reports confirmed that the building had previously sustained heavy structural damage during earlier military bombardments, leaving it severely cracked and unstable. Due to strict blockades restricting the entry of essential construction materials into the territory, repairs were impossible to carry out. Consequently, thousands of displaced families have been forced to take shelter in severely compromised buildings because suitable tents or refugee facilities remain unavailable.
The humanitarian toll continues to mount.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, expressed profound grief over the tragedy. He commended the swift emergency responses mounted by regional nations including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, emphasizing that every single minute remains critical in the ongoing search operations.
Medical personnel at nearby operational facilities have received the injured survivors, while civil defence volunteers press forward with rescue efforts despite dangerous conditions at the collapse site.
