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

Submitted by MEE staff 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 11 people as scores 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 lived in the building, with an estimated 70 people, including many children.

Civil Defence teams recovered the bodies of 11 people, including five children.

It said the fate of around 100 people remained unknown beneath the rubble.

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

But Basal said rescue teams needed heavy machinery to retrieve those trapped, equipment that has been largely unavailable in Gaza after being destroyed by Israel during the genocide.

🚨 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

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 Scores 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