Gaza residential building collapses, six families reportedly trapped

A multi-storey residential building collapsed overnight in western Gaza City, local witnesses and Palestinian journalists said, with reports that six families were trapped under the rubble. Video footage verified by Al Jazeera showed civil defence teams and residents digging by hand through the morning to reach those buried inside.

Witnesses and the verified clips captured the sounds of children calling for help from beneath concrete as rescuers worked to free them. One video showed a young girl removed alive from the wreckage, and several other survivors, including young children appearing breathless, were carried away by ambulance. Officials had not issued an immediate statement, and it remained unclear whether there were any fatalities.

Local media said the building was already damaged in an earlier Israeli strike and had developed cracks that left it structurally unsound before the collapse. The incident echoes a wider pattern across Gaza, where thousands of homes and apartment blocks were damaged or partly destroyed during the war and remain uninhabitable and at risk of sudden failure.

Rescue teams have been operating with limited heavy equipment because entry of construction materials and the machinery needed for safe rubble clearance has been restricted, according to local reporting. That shortage has forced crews to rely largely on manual labour to reach people trapped in collapses, slowing response times and complicating emergency operations for those living in makeshift shelters and partially destroyed buildings.