A multi-storey residential building collapsed overnight in western Gaza City, with six families reportedly trapped beneath the wreckage, according to local witnesses and Palestinian journalists. Rescue crews and residents worked through Wednesday morning, pulling children and other survivors from the rubble. It remains unclear whether anyone was killed or injured.
Rescue crews searched by hand
Verified footage showed civil defence crews working alongside residents as children’s cries for help were heard beneath the concrete. A young girl was pulled out alive, while several survivors, including young children who appeared breathless, were taken away by ambulance.
The rescue effort was slowed by the difficulty of reaching people buried inside the collapsed structure. There was no immediate statement from Gaza’s Health Ministry or the civil defence.
Earlier damage left the structure vulnerable
Local media reported that the building had been struck in an earlier Israeli bombing, leaving it cracked and structurally unsound before it fell.
Across Gaza, thousands of homes and apartment buildings damaged or partly destroyed during the war remain uninhabitable and at risk of sudden collapse. Many Palestinians are living in makeshift shelters or in half-destroyed buildings. Read the context: Mass funeral held in Gaza City for 50 Palestinians recovered from rubble.
Equipment shortages complicate rescues
Construction materials needed for repairs, along with the heavy equipment civil defence teams need to clear rubble safely, have been restricted from entering Gaza, according to the factual account. The shortage has left rescue crews relying largely on manual labour in similar collapses, slowing emergency responses.
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