The six-storey building, which had four apartments per floor, crumbled overnight onto nearby homes and tents in the Tal al-Hawa area of Gaza City, according to the civil defence agency, which works as a rescue service under Hamas authority.
The vast majority of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli strikes throughout the war with Hamas, according to the United Nations.
At Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, journalists saw weeping men carrying children’s bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
Relatives crouched on the floor to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones, kissing the faces of the dead through sobs.
“These buildings are nothing but ticking time bombs,” said Ahmed Al-Ajla, whose uncle and other relatives were killed in the collapse.
“Before his death, my uncle… had endured displacement, poverty, imprisonment and loss,” Ajila said.
“The war is not over, for there remain ticking time bombs in the form of houses on the verge of collapse.”
The building, which was housing more than 100 displaced people, had sustained damage from previous Israeli strikes, the civil defence agency said.
It said its teams, “after hours of arduous work… recovered the bodies of 21 people who had been trapped under the rubble.”
The civil defence said it had also helped transport 45 injured people to hospital.
In an earlier toll, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal said that five children were among the dead.
The building was hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, leading to warnings for Gazans not to go back, Basal said.
“They have no other choice. With neither tents nor homes available, they are living in cracked, damaged buildings despite the risk of collapse,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, video footage showed the building reduced to an immense pile of shattered concrete, towering over a team of rescuers in high-visibility vests conducting a desperate search.
Excavators bearing Egyptian flags worked to remove the debris, while rescuers and volunteers carried out the dead.
“My friend and neighbours live in this building. I came to help my friend retrieve some clothes and mattresses. He currently has no shelter or home,” said Mohannad al-Mashharawi.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had supplied materials to help the search effort at the request of local authorities.
Israel launched relentless strikes on Gaza after the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people, the deadliest attack ever against Israel, according to Israeli official figures.
The ensuing Israeli military campaign has killed more than 73,700 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
With so many Palestinians left homeless, and major shortages of construction materials, many Gaza residents have taken the risk of moving into shaky, damaged buildings.
The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Ramiz Alakbarov, said he was “devastated” by Wednesday’s news.
“Today’s tragedy underscores the grave risks faced by families living in these structures and the urgent need for safer alternatives. No one should have to risk their life simply to find a safe place to shelter,” he said.
Gaza’s civil defence agency has identified around 2,000 buildings in the territory that it says are at risk of collapse.
Israel has allowed additional aid into Gaza since the declaration of a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025.
But Israel has kept carrying out strikes and has restricted the entry of a range of equipment that it says could also have military use. (AFP)
