Building damaged in Israeli strikes collapses in Gaza, killing 21

A building weakened by Israeli strikes collapsed suddenly in Gaza City early Wednesday, killing at least 21 people, including 11 children, as they slept, with rescuers forced to search through the rubble with their bare hands.

The collapse of the building, which had been considered unstable since it was damaged in earlier Israeli strikes during the war, highlighted the increasingly dangerous living conditions faced by much of Gaza’s population as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas remains stalled.

Almost a year after the ceasefire was agreed, no reconstruction work has taken place. Israel has said it will not allow rebuilding until Hamas disarms, while only a limited number of excavators have been permitted to enter Gaza.

Asked whether machinery would be allowed into Gaza to assist with the collapse, COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for coordinating aid to the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli government’s policy allows heavy machinery to enter Gaza.

Six Palestinian families sheltered in the building

By Wednesday afternoon, the death toll included 11 children and five women, Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi said. At least 14 others were injured, he said, adding that rescuers had completed their search of the rubble.

About six displaced Palestinian families had been sheltering in the building despite knowing that it was at risk of collapsing, according to Gaza’s civil defense.

“The lack of options and alternatives left them with no other choice,” said Aboud Majdalawi, a civil defense rescuer.

Around 2 million people in Gaza are now living in an area covering less than half of the enclave. They depend heavily on humanitarian aid and remain surrounded by Israeli troops, who continue to conduct strikes or attacks almost daily.

Rescuers search for bodies with bare hands

Following the collapse, residents desperately searched for relatives and loved ones.

Men were seen carrying the headless body of a child, while others sat on the rubble and frantically pulled at flashes of color they thought might be clothing worn by a survivor. Instead, they found dust-covered blankets trapped beneath the debris.

The collapse occurred as rescue workers across Gaza continued efforts to recover hundreds of bodies from buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes earlier in the war. Only a few excavators are operational, while fuel supplies are running low.

The U.N. human rights chief said Wednesday that he feared the bodies recovered so far represented only the “tip of the iceberg.”

“It is heartbreaking that the loved ones of those missing for so long are only now having their worst fears confirmed,” he said. “Much of Gaza has been flattened by Israeli bombing or demolition and clearing by heavy machinery and explosives.”

Many Palestinians living in unsafe structures

More than one-fifth of the buildings assessed in Gaza City by the Norwegian Refugee Council in March were found to be structurally unsound, but residents said they had no other place to go.

The council leads a coalition of shelter providers operating in Gaza. The coalition said in an assessment released in August that two-thirds of Palestinian households in the enclave were living in tent camps.

Among households living in buildings, 72% were staying in structures that had suffered minor or moderate damage.

The war began after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Many hostages later described prolonged starvation, physical and psychological abuse and, in some cases, sexual abuse.

Although an October ceasefire has significantly reduced fighting in Gaza, Israel has continued conducting strikes that have killed at least 1,375 people since the agreement took 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. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, keeps detailed records that U.N. agencies and international organizations generally consider reliable. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its figures but says women and children account for about half of the deaths.