A six-story residential building already cracked by an earlier Israeli strike collapsed overnight in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighborhood, killing at least 20 Palestinians and trapping close to 100 more under tons of concrete, according to Gaza's Civil Defense agency.

The al-Saada building had housed six extended families displaced from other parts of the city, many of whom had nowhere else to shelter. Officials said at least 12 children and five women were among the dead, with 14 more people pulled out injured. UN officials said the structure had been left structurally unsound by a prior bombardment during the war and gave way without warning as residents slept.

Digging with their hands

Rescue crews said they were working almost entirely without the heavy equipment needed to safely clear multi-story rubble, since Israel has restricted the entry of construction machinery and materials into Gaza throughout the conflict. Gaza City's civil defense director, Raed Al-Dahshan, said workers could still hear voices beneath the debris more than a day after the collapse, according to NBC News.

"We are still hearing voices from under the rubble, so there is still hope to find people."

Gaza City Mayor Yahya Al Sarraj said the municipality and rescue services were "paralysed" by the lack of proper tools, while UN Development Programme official Alessandro Mrakic warned that an estimated 400 more buildings across the strip are at similar risk of collapse. The war has left roughly 2,000 damaged structures still inhabited by families with no safer alternative, and generated an estimated 61 million tons of rubble since fighting began in October 2023.

Egypt sent heavy machinery to the site and the UN Development Programme deployed its own equipment and personnel, while the UAE and Qatar prepared additional relief supplies. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov said "every minute counts" for those still buried, adding that "lives may still be saved, and every effort must be made to reach those trapped under the rubble."

An October ceasefire has curbed the heaviest fighting in Gaza but has not stopped sporadic Israeli strikes, and has done little to address the tens of thousands of Palestinians still living inside damaged buildings as the rainy season approaches. Aid officials are renewing calls for Israel to allow rescue equipment, fuel and construction material into the territory before more structures give way. Search operations at the collapse site were continuing into Wednesday, with officials declining to say when the search for survivors would be called off.