21 including 11 kids, killed in war-damaged building collapse in Gaza

The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in western Gaza City rose to 21, including 11 children and six women, with more than 25 injured, local officials and residents said Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

The six-story Al-Saada building, previously damaged by Israeli bombardment, collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday near the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to civil defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal.

The building housed about 100 displaced people, residents said.

Basal said rescue teams saved 45 people and recovered 21 bodies during a 16-hour operation.

Another 35 managed to escape, he added.

Dozens of grieving relatives gathered outside the collapsed building, some digging with bare hands.

Louay al-Ajla, 54, lost nearly 10 family members in the collapse.

"I received the news at dawn. It was devastating," al-Ajla said.

Palestinian authorities blamed Israel for restricting heavy machinery and equipment needed for rescue efforts.

The Hamas-run media office in Gaza said in a statement that more than 8,500 missing people remained buried beneath rubble across the Gaza Strip due to difficulties in bringing in heavy machinery and rescue equipment, calling thousands of damaged buildings "ticking time bombs."

Basal added that more than 2,000 residential buildings risk collapse as winter approaches, calling on the so-called "Board of Peace" and ceasefire-guaranteeing countries to facilitate equipment entry, warning of "imminent disasters."

The collapse occurred amid continued ceasefire violations, with no progress in talks between Hamas and Israel despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025.

5 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in Gaza

Five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to Palestinian sources, reported Xinhua.

Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that a young man was killed and two others wounded in Israeli shelling targeting a house in the al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.

In a separate incident, a child and a young man were killed and 10 others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting a cafe in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the sources.

Two other young men died of wounds sustained in earlier Israeli shelling in Gaza City, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Zaher Al-Wahidi, director of the Information Center at the Gaza-based health authorities, warned at a press conference that the enclave's health system was facing severe pressure.

Al-Wahidi said the health system was being subjected to a "process of mass, systematic execution," which he said had "surpassed the bounds of a humanitarian disaster."

Tensions persist in Gaza despite a fragile ceasefire, with Israeli strikes still causing Palestinian casualties amid stalled agreement implementation and disputes over aid delivery and Israeli troop withdrawal.