War-damaged Gaza building housing displaced Palestinian families collapses, killing at least 20 people

A building housing displaced Palestinian families collapsed in Gaza City on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, most of them women and children, according to local health officials. The multistory structure was heavily damaged during the Israel-Hamas war and there had been warnings about its safety.

The building was housing about six displaced families when it collapsed on Wednesday morning. At least 15 others were injured, and the 20 dead included eight children and six women, according to the Gaza Civil Defense rescue agency. The toll was expected to rise as more bodies were recovered from the debris.

Video showed civil defense crews surveying the wreckage and using bulldozers to dig people out, including children.

The building had been partially destroyed in an Israeli strike early in the war between Israel and Hamas. It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse, but in Gaza — where the majority of buildings have been damaged or destroyed — dozens of bombed-out, multistory structures have collapsed throughout the war, particularly during winter weather.

Building collapses have become a major hazard in Gaza. Displaced families have often returned from tent camps to homes damaged by bombardment during the almost three years of war.

Gaza war still simmering despite U.S.-brokered ceasefire

While the heaviest fighting in Gaza has subsided since a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire took hold in October

last year, Israel has continued to carry out strikes in the decimated Palestinian territory, including some Monday and Tuesday that killed several people.

The violence has continued despite a visit last month by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a key Mideast negotiator, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to push the ceasefire deal forward.

Speaking a couple weeks after his visit to the region, Kushner directly linked the lack of progress on the rehabilitation of Gaza to Israeli elections set to take place in late October. Polls show it is a tight race between Netanyahu and his opponents.

“We’re working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state,” Kushner said. “They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.”

Militants have carried out shooting attacks on Israeli troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to those and other ceasefire violations.

The Gaza war was sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,264 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.