Gaza City: Gaza authorities said on Wednesday that at least 20 people including five children had died and dozens more were missing after an apartment building collapsed from damage sustained in earlier Israeli strikes.
The six-storey building, which had four apartments per floor, crumbled overnight onto nearby homes and tents in the Tal al Hawa area of Gaza City, according to the civil defence agency, which works as a rescue service under Hamas authority.
The vast majority of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli strikes throughout the war with Hamas, according to the United Nations.
AFP journalists saw the collapsed building reduced to an immense pile of shattered concrete, towering over a team of rescuers in high-visibility vests conducting a desperate search.
Excavators bearing Egyptian flags worked to remove the debris next to rows of tents for displaced people, while rescuers and volunteers carried out the dead wrapped in white plastic body bags.
"My friend and neighbours live in this building. I came to help my friend retrieve some clothes and mattresses. He currently has no shelter or home," Mohannad al Mashharawi said.
Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal said the building had sustained structural damage from previous Israeli strikes.
The bodies of "20 martyrs have been recovered from the rubble", he said.
"Among the dead are five infants, while dozens of people remain trapped beneath the debris," he added.
He said rescue operations were ongoing but relied on "limited equipment and basic tools, as the Israeli occupation prevents the entry of necessary heavy machinery and equipment into the Gaza Strip".
The building was hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, leading to warnings for Gazans not to go back, Basal said.
"They have no other choice. With neither tents nor homes available, they are living in cracked, damaged buildings despite the risk of collapse," he added.
Israel launched relentless strikes on Gaza after the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people, the deadliest attack ever against Israel, according to Israeli official figures.
The ensuing Israeli military campaign has killed more than 73,700 people, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
With so many Palestinians left homeless, and major shortages of construction materials, many Gaza residents have taken the risk of moving into the shaky buildings.
The UN's humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he was "devastated" by Wednesday's reports of the building collapse.
"Today's tragedy underscores the grave risks faced by families living in these structures and the urgent need for safer alternatives. No one should have to risk their life simply to find a safe place to shelter," he said in a statement.
Gaza's civil defence agency has identified around 2,000 buildings in the territory that it says are at risk of collapse.
The Gaza government media office under Hamas pointed to delays in reconstruction of the enclave.
"We hold the Israeli occupation and the international community fully and directly responsible for this catastrophe befalling our Palestinian people," it said.
Israel has allowed additional aid into Gaza since the declaration of a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025.
But Israel has kept carrying out strikes and has restricted the entry of a range of equipment that it says could also have military use. — AFP
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