Gaza: Dozens trapped under rubble after Israeli-hit building collapses

Submitted by Maha Hussaini on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 08:29 Rescue crews race to reach residents as the death toll rises in western Gaza City

People gather as Civil Defence workers attempt to rescue those who are trapped beneath the rubble of a residential building that had been damaged in an earlier Israeli strike during the war and collapsed on Wednesday, in Gaza City, 16 September 2026 (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa) Off

A building in Gaza previously hit by Israeli forces collapsed on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people as dozens more remained trapped under the rubble, including dozens of children.

The Palestinian Civil Defence, Gaza's emergency and rescue agency, said the six-storey residential building on al-Sinaa Street in western Gaza City collapsed suddenly while residents were sleeping inside.

More than 10 families, totalling around 80 people, lived in the building, according to residents. Dozens were children.

Civil Defence teams recovered the bodies of 14 people, including five children, and rescued 10 injured people.

Mahmoud Basal, the Civil Defence spokesperson, said emergency workers could hear the cries of people trapped beneath the rubble and were doing everything they could to reach them.

Abdullah al-Majdalawi, director of public relations and media at Gaza Civil Defence, said rescue teams had been working continuously since the collapse.

"Every victim we have pulled from beneath the rubble appears to have been sleeping on a mattress. They were asleep when the building collapsed," Majdalawi told Middle East Eye.

But rescue teams lack the heavy machinery needed to reach those trapped, with much of Gaza's equipment destroyed by Israel during the genocide.

"We lack even the most basic tools," Majdalawi said.

"In the first moments after the collapse, we had to ask neighbours and displaced people nearby to bring hammers, shovels and other tools because of the severe shortage of equipment," he added.

🚨 BREAKING : Children are crying for help from beneath the rubble in the middle of the night after a residential building collapsed on six families sheltering inside after it had been previously damaged by Israeli bombardment. More than six families remain trapped under the debris. Rescue teams are desperately trying to reach them in extremely difficult conditions.
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) September 16, 2026

Talal al-Harazin, 53, a displaced Palestinian who lived in a tent metres from the building, said the collapse felt like an "earthquake".

"At around 3:10 am, the entire building collapsed. It took less than 10 seconds for the building to come down," he told Middle East Eye.

Harazin said around 10 families were living in the building, including the Abu Ras, al-Swatri, Adas, al-Jaabari, al-Ajla and Saada families. The smallest family had around 10 members, most of them women and children.

Harazin said the building had been hit and damaged by Israeli bombardment and had already sunk about three floors into the ground. But the families had nowhere else to live.

"Unfortunately, we expected it to collapse. People had warned them, but they said, ‘Where can we live?’" he said.

"Pieces of the building were falling every day. Just yesterday, stones fell from it, and we said it could collapse. And that same night, it collapsed."

Shelter crisis

The collapsed building was among an estimated 2,000 buildings across the Gaza Strip at risk of collapse because of damage caused by Israeli strikes.

Despite the danger, many of the buildings remain inhabited by large numbers of residents who have run out of other shelter.

During Israel's genocide in Gaza, which began in 2023, Israeli forces damaged or destroyed an estimated 90 percent of housing units in the territory, according to the UN.

Almost the entire population of 2.2 million people has been internally displaced during the war.

A report released last month by the Shelter Cluster, led by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), found that an estimated 1.98 million Palestinians in Gaza - 94 percent of the population – need shelter and basic household assistance.

Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire in October aimed at ending the genocide by halting attacks, facilitating the flow of aid into Gaza, including shelter materials, and paving the way for reconstruction.

Israel has repeatedly violated the US-mediated agreement, conducting near-daily attacks and restricting reconstruction efforts, while blocking the entry of much of the shelter material needed in Gaza.

Israel's genocide in Gaza Gaza City, occupied Palestine Dozens trapped under rubble in Gaza after Israeli-hit building collapses News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0