Gaza building collapse kills 21 as UN warns hundreds more at risk

At least 21 people, including eight children, have been killed after a six-storey apartment block collapsed in Gaza. The building, known as Al-Sadah in Tel El-Hawa, north of Gaza City, came down in the early hours while about 100 people from around 10 families were inside. Some early reports said at least 20 had died, including five children, but later rescue figures put the toll at 21. Dozens were missing or trapped under the rubble.

Witnesses said the building had been visibly tilting to one side and stones fell from it. One man moved his tent away because he thought it was so unsafe. A woman said it felt like an earthquake, with stones raining down, dust everywhere and then screams. The block had been damaged in an earlier Israeli airstrike, and there had been warnings that it was unsafe. Families stayed because they were displaced and had nowhere else to go, with tents offering little protection from cold and rain.

Rescue efforts began with civil defence workers using hammers, drills and their bare hands. Heavy lifting equipment was scarce. Later, UN agencies and an Egyptian rescue team brought in some machinery, and the UAE and Egypt offered relief supplies. At least 45 people were pulled alive, according to one report. Bodies were wrapped in plastic shrouds as the death toll rose. UN officials said the rescue was slow because equipment was lacking, and that Israel tightly restricts what enters Gaza, including heavy machinery, for security reasons. Israel says the restrictions are to stop equipment reaching Palestinian armed groups.

Human stories from the scene included a six-year-old boy trapped next to the bodies of relatives for hours, and his sister, who suffered a head injury and later learned her mother had died. Another account described a seven-year-old boy lying next to his mother's body and a nine-year-old sister being rescued; nine members of their family, including a pregnant mother and a three-year-old brother, were killed. Most of the victims were women and children. A rescuer carrying out the body of a young girl cried and said she had the right to live in a humane way.

Officials and aid groups warned that the collapse was not an isolated risk. The UN said about 400 buildings in Gaza are at risk of collapse, with some warnings that 400 are at imminent risk. Gaza's civil defence has identified around 2,000 buildings with structural damage. UN figures say 80% of buildings across the strip were damaged or destroyed during the war. A survey by the Norwegian Refugee Agency found as many as a fifth of blocks still standing are structurally unsound. With winter approaching, there are calls for more tents, tarpaulins and heavy machinery.

The political context remains fraught. Israel says no rebuilding can happen in Gaza until Hamas disarms, and it has said it did not strike the building that collapsed. Israeli ministers have limited the entry of construction materials, saying Hamas could use them. Some far-right politicians say it is only a matter of time before war resumes, and at least one has said Gaza should remain in ruins and its people expelled. Other Israeli figures have spoken of settling Gaza in Jewish hands. For displaced families, the choice is often between a damaged building and a tent.

Since the ceasefire, Israel has taken control of about two-thirds of the Gaza Strip, according to one account, leaving about 2.1 million Palestinians squeezed into the remaining third. Nearly a year on, rebuilding has not begun. The war has killed more than 72,000 people, according to figures cited in coverage. For families in Gaza, safety remains out of reach.