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.
Update: The death toll from the incident has risen to 16 Palestinians, including women and children, while at least 25 others were injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Al-Jazeera said Civil Defense crews recovered nine bodies, including those of women and children, from beneath the rubble and rescued 14 survivors.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported, citing rescue teams, that emergency crews may require more than three days to respond to the humanitarian disaster due to a severe shortage of equipment and resources.
Al-Jazeera English said that at least fifty Palestinian children are among about 100 Palestinians who remain under the rubble of the collapsed building.
Al-Jazeera’s correspondent reported that the bombing-damaged building collapsed onto displaced families while they were asleep and also struck tents erected beside it.
Witnesses said rescue crews were carrying out search and recovery operations with severely limited resources as they worked to reach people trapped beneath the rubble. Civil Defense teams reported that one child remained buried for more than an hour, prompting urgent appeals for the deployment of heavy machinery to support ongoing rescue efforts.
At a press conference, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal warned that an estimated 2,000 structurally compromised buildings across the Gaza Strip remain occupied by residents and displaced families despite the risk of collapse. He urged the international community to provide specialized equipment and heavy machinery to strengthen rescue operations and facilitate the recovery of those still missing beneath the rubble.
Basal said search and rescue teams were continuing efforts at the site of the collapsed building, where dozens of people are believed to remain trapped. He added that more than 50 children are thought to be under the debris, while rescue crews have reported hearing voices from beneath the rubble and are working urgently to reach survivors.
Residents said dozens of people, most of them displaced Palestinians, were sheltering in the building at the time of the strike. They noted that the structure had previously sustained significant damage and developed major cracks as a result of an earlier Israeli attack.
Civil Defense and Gaza Municipality crews worked through the early morning, pulling casualties and survivors from beneath concrete slabs as relatives awaited news of those still missing.
Earlier Civil Defense updates reported lower preliminary figures. Al-Jazeera later reported that the death toll had risen to 11, while approximately 100 people remained missing or beneath the rubble. The final toll remained unconfirmed as the search continued.
Footage published by Al-Jazeera showed Civil Defense crews and residents digging through debris by hand and carrying survivors, including children, away from the building.
Civil Defense said rescuers lacked excavators and heavy lifting equipment needed to reach those trapped beneath the concrete.
Al-Jazeera’s correspondent said Israeli bombing during the war had left the building cracked and structurally damaged before it collapsed.
At a press conference at the site, Civil Defense warned that approximately 2,000 damaged and structurally unstable buildings across the Gaza Strip remain inhabited and could collapse without warning because families have no alternative shelter.
🚨BREAKING: In the dead of night, a structurally damaged building in Gaza collapsed on six families sheltering inside after it had been previously damaged by Israeli bombardment.
They are now trapped beneath the rubble. Children’s screams can be heard in the darkness as… pic.twitter.com/8ParWoYl8J
— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) September 16, 2026
It appealed for urgent international intervention to allow the entry of heavy machinery needed to recover those still missing beneath the rubble.
The collapse underscored the continuing danger posed by residential buildings left structurally unstable by Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip.
Medical sources reported on September 1 that 34 Palestinians had been killed in collapses of buildings damaged by Israeli bombardment. The latest deaths raise that reported cumulative toll to at least 45.
Civil Defense said shortages of heavy rescue equipment were hindering efforts to reach people beneath the rubble. The Palestinian Information Center reported that Israeli restrictions on the entry of construction and reconstruction materials have left displaced families with few alternatives to damaged buildings or tents, exposing communities across the Gaza Strip to further preventable collapses.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces killed Palestinian fisherman Wisam al-Aqraa off Deir al-Balah on Tuesday evening, according to Sada News. His body was recovered Wednesday and taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
