25 injured, 100 remain missing under rubble after six-storey residential building collapses in Al-Sinaa area
People gather as Civil Defence workers attempt to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble of a residential building that had been damaged in an earlier Israeli strike during the war and collapsed on Wednesday, in Gaza City, September 16, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
At least 14 Palestinians, including five children, were killed Wednesday when a residential building housing displaced people that had been damaged during Israel’s genocidal war collapsed in western Gaza City, according to Palestinian sources.
A medical source told Anadolu that the bodies of 14 Palestinians, including five children, and 25 injured people were taken to hospitals in Gaza City after the collapse of the Al-Saada building in the city’s Al-Sinaa area.
Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said during a news conference at the scene that the building had previously been targeted by Israeli bombardment during the war before collapsing early Wednesday.
Bassal said around 100 people remained missing under the rubble. He warned that around 2,000 damaged buildings at risk of collapse remain occupied by residents and displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip.
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Bassal called on the international community to provide the equipment and machinery needed to enable rescue teams to recover those missing.
Gaza Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj said during the news conference that the building’s collapse “warns of the danger of more damaged residential buildings collapsing.” He stressed the need to allow mobile homes to enter Gaza before winter to provide alternatives for residents and displaced people.
In remarks to Anadolu, Gaza Municipality spokesman Hosni Muhanna said that displaced families had been living inside the collapsed building after fleeing the harsh conditions in tent camps. He also warned of the risk of further collapses of damaged and cracked residential buildings across Gaza, calling for the urgent entry of heavy and specialised equipment needed for rescue operations and rubble removal.
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Anadolu‘s correspondent reported that official institutions in Gaza had resorted to using equipment from private-sector companies due to shortages of heavy machinery and equipment.
According to the latest figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry, 1,375 Palestinians have been killed and 4,686 injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025.
The figures bring the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, to nearly 74,000, with more than 174,000 others injured, according to the Health Ministry.
