A Damaged Building Fell in Gaza City, Killing 12 People
At least 12 people, including children, died when a war-damaged apartment building fell down in Gaza City.
The building was in Tal al-Hawa. It fell in the night before Wednesday, September 16, 2026 U.S. News. Shifa Hospital said 12 people died and 15 were hurt, and local rescue teams said children were among the dead Irish News. Dozens are still missing. Ten families were living there, even though locals say they had been warned it was not safe BBC. The floors fell flat on top of each other Yahoo News. Dozens were trapped under broken concrete.
Gaza's rescue service, run by Hamas and called Civil Defence, said workers started with "empty hands" because tight Israeli rules block rescue tools from entering Gaza. They later borrowed heavy machines to help. The search for living people and bodies in the rubble is still going on.
The fall happened while deadly strikes continued. On Tuesday, Israeli air strikes killed at least five Palestinians, including two children and a Hamas commander, health officials and Hamas sources said. Israel's military said it killed a Hamas commander in the south and another fighter in the north. Separately, the group Medical Aid for Palestinians said a patient was killed by an Israeli drone at a health clinic it helps in Jabalia in the north.
The search continues. Crews still do not have their own machines to lift heavy slabs and reach small gaps where people may be alive.
To understand why this matters, harm now comes not only from bombs but from weak buildings used as shelter. Without proper rescue tools, searches take longer, and unsafe shelter may lead to more deaths in the coming weeks.
