At least 21 Palestinians, including eight children, who were sheltering in a bombed-out apartment building in Gaza have been killed after the structure collapsed overnight.
Fourteen others were injured – and dozens of people trapped beneath the rubble – with rescuers resorting to digging with their bare hands.
Several displaced families lived in the building which had been partially destroyed in an Israeli strike earlier in the war.
With much of Gaza razed to the ground by Israel’s bombardment, it’s thought that tens of thousands of Palestinians live in around 2,000 damaged buildings.
There was still hope of finding survivors, said Raed Al-Dahshan, the director of Gaza City’s civil defence service.
“We are still hearing voices from under the rubble,” he said.
“The limited availability of shelter options forced residents to move into this building, believing it was safe.”
Many families say they have resorted to living in partially damaged buildings to protect themselves against wind and rainstorms, and because of the lack of new tents for the homeless.
“The situation, as you see, is tragic because we don’t have the equipment and machinery that is needed,” said Alessandro Mrakic, head of the UN Development Programme’s Gaza office.
“So there are actually people that are digging with their bare hands.”
He said there were approximately 400 buildings at risk of collapse.
“And we know that these buildings will collapse, especially now with the upcoming winter,” Mr Mrakic added.
A US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas agreed in October 2025 remains in place.
While it has largely halted large-scale fighting in Gaza, it has not ended Israeli strikes on the territory and there has been little progress towards a permanent peace.
Both sides accuse each other of violating the deal.
More than 1,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to officials from Gaza’s Hamas-run health authority.
The IDF says four Israeli soldiers have been killed.
