Gaza building collapse kills 19, including 13 women and children A damaged building in Gaza City collapsed overnight, killing 19 people and injuring 25, as a stalled ceasefire leaves Palestinians without reconstruction. A residential building in Gaza City collapsed overnight into Wednesday September 16 2026, killing 19 people as they slept and injuring 25, according to Palestinian civil defence. The building housed six displaced families and was known to be unstable from earlier Israeli strikes. Rescuers are still digging through rubble for dozens more who had been sheltering inside. The dead include at least 13 women and children, said Zaher al-Wahidi a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry. The toll was expected to rise as more bodies were recovered from the wreckage.A group of men were seen carrying the headless body of a child. Others sat atop a pile of rubble, pulling desperately at flashes of colour they believed could be clothing worn by a survivor. All they found were dust-caked blankets wedged in the debris. The collapse underscored how perilous and desperate living conditions have grown for the majority of the enclave's population as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas stalls.The building was one of many damaged structures left unrepaired since the ceasefire reached late last year. Israel has said it will not allow any rebuilding until Hamas disarms. At least six displaced Palestinian families were living in the structure despite knowing it was teetering on the brink of collapse, according to Gaza's civil defence. The lack of options and alternatives left them with no other choice, said Aboud Majdalawi a rescuer with the force.All of Gaza's roughly two million people now live in a stretch of land that makes up less than half of the territory. They remain dependent on aid and are surrounded by Israeli troops who carry out strikes or attacks on a near-daily basis. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire was reached late last year.Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in October 2025 that reduced fighting in Gaza, Israel has continued to carry out strikes, as both sides accuse each other of violating the truce. At least 1,375 people have been killed since the agreement went into effect, according to local health officials. The nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war launched after Hamas's deadly raid into Israel in October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.The 2023 Hamas-led attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel while another 251 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The level of destruction means Palestinians have been forced to choose between crowded tent camps or what's left of the enclave's damaged buildings. There has been no reconstruction work since the ceasefire.Israel's military front in Gaza was supposed to remain frozen after the ceasefire deal, but the yellow line is advancing and pushing Palestinians westward toward the Mediterranean Sea, according to CBC's Saša Petricic. A Palestinian humanitarian worker says Israel is erasing the possibility of a Palestinian state. The collapse on Wednesday killed at least 19 people and injured 25, with rescuers pulling bodies from the rubble as families watched in despair.The building had been home to half a dozen families who had nowhere else to go.