damage sustained in earlier Israeli strikes. The six-story 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 defense 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. AFP journalists saw the collapsed 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 next to rows of tents for displaced people, while rescuers and volunteers carried out the dead wrapped in white plastic body bags. "My friend and neighbors live in this building. I came to help my friend retrieve some clothes and mattresses. He currently has no shelter or home," Mohannad Al-Mashharawi told AFP. Civil defense agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal told AFP the building had sustained structural damage from previous Israeli strikes. The bodies of "20 martyrs have been recovered from the rubble", he said. "Among the dead are five infants, while dozens of people remain trapped beneath the debris”, he added. He said rescue operations were ongoing but relied on ‘limited equipment and basic tools’, as the Israeli occupation prevents the entry of necessary heavy machinery and equipment into the Gaza Strip. The building was hit multiple times in 2024 and March 2025, leading to warnings for Gazans not to go back, Basal said. (Bssnews)