Overview
- A six-storey residential block in Tal al-Hawa, Gaza City, collapsed on Wednesday after earlier war damage, and searches finished with authorities confirming 21 dead and dozens rescued from the rubble.
- The building had been sheltering roughly 100 people, including multiple displaced families, and reports say a large share of the victims were children.
- Gaza civil defence and other rescuers worked largely by hand because of a severe shortage of heavy machinery, which Palestinian and UN officials attribute to Israeli restrictions on equipment entering the territory.
- Egypt, UN agencies and Gulf states deployed some excavators and relief to the site, but officials and aid coordinators urgently called for expedited, sustained entry of more heavy machinery, fuel and shelter supplies.
- Humanitarian agencies warn that around 2,000 damaged buildings remain occupied in Gaza, and they say the lack of reconstruction and the approaching rainy season raise the risk of further deadly collapses and worsening shelter needs.