World
Gaza Building Collapse Kills 12, Including Five Children, Amid Rescue Efforts
At least 12 Palestinians, including five children, died after a multi-storey residential building collapsed overnight in western Gaza City, according to Gaza's Civil Defence. Witnesses and local journalists reported that six families were trapped beneath the rubble following the collapse.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed rescue teams and local residents working together, digging by hand to reach those buried inside. Witnesses said children's cries for help could be heard from beneath the concrete as crews struggled to reach survivors.
One video showed a young girl being pulled alive from the wreckage, while other footage depicted additional survivors, including children, emerging from the rubble appearing breathless before being taken away by ambulance.
Local media reported that the building had previously been struck during an earlier Israeli bombing, which left the structure cracked and unstable prior to its collapse.
Across Gaza, thousands of homes and apartment buildings damaged or partially destroyed during the war remain uninhabitable and at risk of sudden collapse. Many Palestinians continue to live in makeshift shelters or in previously bombed, half-destroyed buildings, as Israel has restricted the entry of construction materials needed for repairs as well as the heavy equipment required by civil defence teams to safely clear rubble and conduct rescues.
This shortage of equipment has forced rescue workers to depend largely on manual labor when responding to building collapses, significantly slowing emergency response times.