Multi‑Story Residential Building Collapses in Western Gaza, Trapping Six Families

Rescue crews in Gaza pull survivors from a collapsed building as cries for help echo beneath the rubble, local media shows say.

Published On 16 Sep 202616 Sep 2026

A multi-storey residential building has collapsed overnight in western Gaza City, with six families reportedly trapped underneath, according to local witnesses and Palestinian journalists.

Verified Al Jazeera footage captured rescue teams extracting young children from the debris, while local residents worked manually through the morning.

According to witnesses and the verified footage, children’s cries for help could be heard from beneath the concrete as civil defence crews struggled to reach those buried inside.

Another video showed a young girl rescued alive from the wreckage and several survivors, including breathless children, emerging from the rubble before being transported by ambulance.

The presence of casualties remains unconfirmed.

No immediate statement was issued by Gaza’s Health Ministry or the civil defence.

Local media reported that the building had been hit by an earlier Israeli airstrike, leaving it cracked and structurally unsound prior to the collapse.

Thousands of homes and apartment buildings damaged or partially destroyed during the conflict remain uninhabitable across Gaza and are at risk of sudden collapse.

Many Palestinians now reside in makeshift shelters or half‑destroyed, previously bombed structures because Israel has restricted the entry of construction materials and heavy equipment required for repairs and safe rubble clearance by civil defence teams.

The shortage has forced rescue crews to rely primarily on manual labour to reach victims of similar collapses, slowing response times during emergencies.

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