The death toll from the collapse this Wednesday of a building housing displaced people, which fell onto adjacent tents set up on a street in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, has risen to 16, according to authorities in the enclave controlled by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
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The Gaza Ministry of Health stated in a communiqué that “the collapse of a damaged residential building has caused the death of 16 people and injuries to more than 25,” before adding that dozens are still missing at the site, where Civil Protection rescue teams are working.
Civil Protection itself, which lamented the “painful and tragic incident,” detailed that dozens of displaced people were in the building after “being forced to live there due to the Israeli aggression.” “They were protecting their children among the cracked walls and columns,” it lamented, referring to the damage previously suffered by the building from Israeli attacks.
The six-story building, known as the “Happiness Building,” housed “about a hundred people” living in “dozens of tents.” “Half of them were innocent children with their parents. Now they are under the rubble,” it noted, according to a statement published on social media.
“This tragedy reminds us once again of the thousands of martyrs who lost their lives as a result of Israeli attacks on buildings and homes, as well as the thousands who remain missing under the rubble, with no possibility of being rescued due to the occupation’s intransigence and its refusal to allow the entry of the equipment, machinery, excavators, and mechanical shovels necessary to deal with these tragic events,” it emphasized.
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In this regard, it warned of possible collapses of other buildings affected by Israeli attacks and insisted on the need to allow the entry of equipment and machinery for search and rescue operations, especially in view of the “disasters” that could occur with the arrival of winter and worsening weather conditions.
Meanwhile, the press office of the Gaza authorities highlighted that the incident “deepens the humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. “We hold the occupation and the international community fully responsible,” it stressed, while accusing Israel of “deliberately obstructing rescue operations” by preventing the entry of equipment.
“The victims of this tragedy add to the more than 8,500 missing under the rubble in various governorates of the Gaza Strip, making urgent intervention necessary to rescue them,” said the office, which insisted on the risk faced by “thousands” of buildings damaged by the offensive launched by Israel following the attacks of October 7, 2023.
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