After the collapse tragedy in Gaza: Dozens of people still searched under rubble

dpa/Reuters/ka | At least 20 Palestinians died and 14 others were injured when a war-damaged residential building collapsed in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. A total of around 100 people are said to have lived in the six-story building, including 50 children. The Palestinian government demanded that Israel grant unhindered access for rescue workers. A UN official warned that there are hundreds of similarly unsafe structures in Gaza where families live for lack of alternatives.

According to Palestinian information, the building in the Tal al-Hawa district west of the city of Gaza was hit by an Israeli airstrike over a year ago. Despite the damage, it continued to be inhabited because there is a shortage of housing in the war zone. It was said that the victims were mainly women and children.

According to the spokesman for the Hamas-controlled civil defense, Mahmoud Basal, around 100 people are still believed to be buried under the rubble of the residential building. Helpers are currently looking for them. However, the emergency services lack equipment and heavy equipment.

Footage shared on Palestinian and social media is said to show piles of rubble after the house collapsed. In a video you can see how helpers try to free a crying child stuck between the rubble.

According to residents, more than 60 people, mostly those displaced by the war, stayed in the house that night. Civil defense said that displaced people in tents next to the building were also likely to be among the victims. There has actually been a ceasefire in the Gaza war since October 2025. Recently, Israel has increased its air strikes again and, according to its own statements, has specifically targeted high-ranking Hamas members.

According to Palestinian information, at least five people were killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, including two children and a Hamas commander. Two people died in an attack on a vehicle in the northern district of Sheikh Radwan on Tuesday, medics said. Eyewitnesses reported a second impact as helpers rushed to the victims.

The Israeli military said it had attacked a Palestinian militant. In Jabalia, a patient in a health center was killed by an Israeli drone, according to a British aid organization. According to doctors, a man and an eight-year-old girl died in another air raid on a tent camp and 14 other people were injured. In addition, both Israel and Hamas confirmed the death of a senior Hamas commander in a separate attack.

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreed in October 2025, deadly incidents continue to occur. Hamas and Israel accuse each other of violating the agreement. This is intended to pave the way for a peace plan from US President Donald Trump, which envisages an Israeli withdrawal and the disarmament of Hamas. According to local health authorities, more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began. The Israeli military reported the deaths of four soldiers during the same period.

The war began with the Hamas attack and massacre on October 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel's campaign in Gaza. Israel's army has destroyed large areas of the Gaza Strip and occupies more than two-thirds of the coastal strip. It killed over 70,000 during the course of the war and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes. They live in temporary accommodation such as tents or in damaged buildings that are often in danger of collapsing.