A residential building housing dozens of displaced Palestinians collapsed in Gaza City early Wednesday morning, killing 21 people, including 11 children and five women, according to Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry. The structure, known as the al-Saada building in western Gaza City, had been previously damaged by Israeli strikes earlier in the war and was considered unstable.
Rescuers from the Gaza Civil Defense reported that approximately six displaced families had sought shelter in the building despite warnings that it was teetering on the brink of collapse. Aboud Majdalawi, a rescuer with the agency, stated that a lack of other options and alternatives left the families with no other choice. At least 14 people were injured in the incident, and rescuers were forced to claw through rubble with bare hands before determining the final death toll.
Impact on Displaced Families
The collapse occurred while many residents were sleeping. Among the victims was 38-year-old Mahmoud Saada, a father of six girls and one boy; neither he nor his family survived. Mahmoud had previously lived in a tent in southern Gaza but returned to Gaza City a month ago due to difficult financial conditions and exhaustion from tent living, according to his mother, Umm Mahmoud Saada.
Another survivor, 37-year-old Hayat al-Ajlah, reported that nine members of her extended family were killed, including her parents, four siblings, and three nephews and nieces. Al-Ajlah and her four children survived because they were located near the side of the building that tilted. Her eight-year-old daughter, Dalia, was transported to al-Shifa Hospital with a serious head injury. Al-Ajlah noted that her father had planned to find another location because her mother feared the building’s stability. The family had previously been displaced from the Shujayea neighbourhood to Deir el-Balah before returning to a third-floor apartment in the al-Saada building about two months ago.
Challenges in Rescue and Reconstruction
The recovery operation was prolonged by a severe shortage of essential equipment and heavy machinery. Palestinian Civil Defence teams reported they were forced to rely on basic tools to clear large amounts of concrete and rubble. Officials and U.N. representatives attribute this shortage to Israeli restrictions on imports and reconstruction in the enclave. Israel has stated it will not allow rebuilding until Hamas disarms and has permitted only a handful of excavators to enter Gaza.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stated the tragedy highlights the grave risks faced by families living in these structures and the urgent need for safer alternatives
.
Broader Context of Gaza’s Infrastructure Crisis
The collapse of the al-Saada building is part of a wider pattern of structural failures in Gaza, where the majority of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Local rescue services estimate that approximately 2,000 damaged buildings are currently inhabited by families. Many displaced residents have returned to bombed-out structures to seek protection from rain and windstorms due to a lack of available tents.
The scale of the destruction is vast; according to the U.N., Israeli assaults have generated roughly 61 million tons of wreckage and debris, which could take seven years to clear. This crisis persists despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took hold in October of the previous year. While large-scale fighting has subsided, local health officials report that more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in continued Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began. The total death toll of the nearly three-year war has exceeded 73,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Keep reading