AFP //

At least 20 people have been killed and several others are missing following the collapse of a building in Gaza City. Five children are among the dead. The building had previously sustained damage from Israeli attacks.

Gaza authorities reported on Wednesday that the six-story building in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood collapsed overnight. Each floor contained four apartments. The Hamas-run Civil Defense stated that the structure collapsed onto neighboring houses and tents.

AFP journalists visiting the scene found the building reduced to a massive pile of rubble. A man named Mohannad al-Mashharawi said, “My friends and neighbors lived in this building. I came to help retrieve some of my friend’s clothes and a mattress. He currently has nowhere else to stay.”

Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told AFP that rescue operations are underway, though work is being conducted using only limited resources and basic tools. Israeli occupation forces are preventing the entry of necessary heavy machinery and equipment into the Gaza Strip.

Basal noted that the building had been struck multiple times in 2023 and March 2024. Locals had been warned against living there, but with nowhere else to go, many continued to reside in the building, risking their lives.

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