At least 21 killed, including 11 children, in collapse of Gaza City building damaged by Israeli strikes
Nir Hasson, Jack Khoury and The Associated Press report in Haaretz on 16 September 2026:
At least 21 Palestinians, including 11 children, were killed and around 20 were declared missing after a building in Gaza City collapsed overnight into Wednesday. Despite the five-story building being known as unstable due to damage from Israeli strikes, families had been forced to live in the building due to a lack of alternatives, Gaza’s civil defense said. Six displaced families, totaling around 100 people, had been living there at the time of the collapse, half of them children.
Rescue teams, which have been digging since the collapse, are operating under difficult conditions and with a lack of heavy mechanical equipment, Gaza’s Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said. Over 20 people have been rescued alive, he added.
A group of men was seen carrying the headless body of a child. Others sat atop a pile of rubble, pulling desperately at flashes of color they believed could be clothing worn by a survivor. All they found were dust-caked blankets wedged in the debris.
Videos shared on social media on Tuesday night showed first responders and residents pulling bodies out of the wreckage. One video shows first responders trying to rescue a trapped, wounded child laying next to the body of his dead brother. In other videos, calls for help can be heard coming from inside the wreckage.
Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the West Bank and Gaza, called for “urgent approvals for the entry of heavy machinery, specialized equipment, engine oil and fuel needed for search-and-rescue operations,” noting “every minute counts.”
Long after Israel and Hamas declared a cease-fire in October, buildings keep collapsing in Gaza. Wednesday’s incident appeared to be the deadliest collapse that was not directly caused by an airstrike. The Civil Defense noted that over 2,000 structures throughout the Gaza Strip are also at risk of collapse.
All of Gaza’s roughly 2 million people now live in a stretch of land that makes up less than half of the territory. They remain dependent on aid and are surrounded by Israeli troops who carry out strikes or attacks on a near-daily basis.
There has been no reconstruction work in the enclave since the cease-fire was declared last year. Israel has said it will not allow any rebuilding until Hamas disarms. The level of destruction means Palestinians have been forced to choose between crowded tent camps or what’s left of the enclave’s damaged buildings.
“The lack of options and alternatives left them with no other choice,” said Aboud Majdalawi, a rescuer with the Civil Defense.
“Across Gaza, people are living in hundreds of damaged structures assessed as unsafe, for lack of better options,” the UN’s Alakbarov said. “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.”
In the aftermath of the collapse, people were searching desperately for loved ones or their remains.
Despite the declared cease-fire that has reduced fighting in Gaza, Israel has continued to carry out strikes, killing at least 1,375 people since the agreement went into effect, according to local health officials. The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 73,789 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
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