A war-damaged residential building collapsed in Gaza City on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, killing at least 20 people and trapping nearly 100 others under the rubble. Civil defense crews and United Nations workers faced severe shortages of heavy equipment, digging with bare hands to reach survivors as winter approached.
The disaster struck the As-Rimal and As-Sina’a neighborhoods of Gaza City, where a multi-story residential building gave way early Wednesday morning. According to Reuters, the structure had sustained heavy damage from an earlier Israeli airstrike during the war. Nearly 100 people were believed to be trapped beneath the concrete layers, while Al-Jazeera reported that the building collapsed directly onto tents housing displaced families parked along the adjacent road.
Search and rescue operations are underway at the site of the collapsed Al-Sa’ada building in the city’s Al-Rimal neighborhood, where around 100 people are missing, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense agency. The building, which is six stories high with four apartments on each floor, was targeted by Israeli airstrikes at the beginning of the war in Gaza following the October 7 attacks in 2023, the Civil Defense agency said. Fourteen displaced Palestinians, including women and children, were killed before dawn Wednesday when the six-story As-Saada residential building collapsed in the As-Sina’a area, southwest of Gaza City, Al-Jazeera reported.
A rescue team from Gaza’s civil defence said they had recovered the bodies of five children among the victims, while 25 injured people were taken to hospital. Medical sources said rescuers could hear the voices of people trapped beneath the rubble as they tried to reach them. The bombed-out multi storey building, which contained four apartments on each floor, had previously been hit by Israeli strikes during the war, leaving its structure badly weakened and at risk of collapse. When it gave way on Wednesday, it fell on to tents beside it housing displaced families, witnesses said.
Civil Defense Rescue Efforts and Equipment Shortages
Rescue operations were severely hampered by a critical lack of machinery and specialized resources. A video obtained by Reuters showed rescue workers trying to pull out two people from under a collapsed wall. Another video circulated on social media showed Gaza’s civil defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, carrying a little girl, wrapped in a blood-stained scarf, in his hands. Raed Al-Dahshan, the director of Gaza City’s civil defense service, said at least 10 families lived in the collapsed building and there was still hope.
Dahshan warned residents to stay away from wrecked buildings due to the risk of collapse. Witnesses said rescue crews were carrying out searches by hand and with basic tools due to the lack of heavy machinery.
Casualty Discrepancies Across Reporting Outlets
Initial figures and ongoing casualty updates varied among reporting agencies as recovery efforts continued. Other outlets recorded slightly differing preliminary tallies. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed at least 16 deaths, while noting that about 50 Palestinian children were among the roughly 100 individuals still missing beneath the heavy debris. The Palestinian Health Ministry stated that at least 25 others were injured.
Widespread Shelter Crisis and Risk of Further Collapses
The disaster highlights a pervasive threat across the Gaza Strip, where an estimated 2,000 buildings damaged by Israeli airstrikes remain inhabited by families lacking alternative shelter. Raed Al-Dahshan, the director of Gaza City’s civil defense service, explained that residents moved into the compromised structure because they believed it offered protection against the elements.
“The limited availability of shelter options forced residents to move into this building, believing it was safe. However, at one point it collapsed entirely, tragically crashing down on people as they slept.”
Raed Al-Dahshan, director of Gaza City’s civil defense service, via Reuters
Around 80% of all structures in Gaza have been damaged since the conflict began, with two-thirds of them destroyed, according to the UN, leaving Palestinians struggling to find safe shelter amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and the threat of unexploded ordnance. The demand for shelter is high, especially as winter approaches, with around 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza – or about 90% of the population – displaced during the war, the UN said. Israel’s devastating assault on Gaza — launched after Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel in October 2023 — has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris that could take seven years to clear, according to the U.N.
U.N. officials and Palestinian authorities blamed Israeli restrictions for keeping heavy lifting equipment out of the territory, pointing out that curbs on dual-use goods prevent the importation of machinery needed to clear rubble or demolish unstable structures. Israel maintains that its restrictions prevent militant groups from repurposing heavy equipment for military use. Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, emphasized the urgency of the situation. His warning that upcoming winter rains pose an imminent threat of further structural failures among thousands of compromised buildings throughout the region. 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,
said Ramiz Alakbarov.