Gaza Herald — Rescue crews in Gaza recovered the bodies of 21 Palestinians, including 12 children and five women, from beneath the rubble of the Saeeda building in the al-Sinaa area of Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, the Ministry of Interior and National Security said Wednesday.
The bodies were recovered after more than 15 hours of intensive search and rescue operations.
According to the ministry, Civil Defense and medical crews, supported by police, rushed to the site after receiving reports of the building’s collapse early Wednesday. Around 100 people were believed to have been inside at the time.
Rescue teams saved 45 Palestinians, including 14 injured people who were taken to hospitals, while others managed to escape on their own.
The ministry warned that the collapse highlights the danger facing residents and displaced families living in hundreds of buildings across Gaza that were damaged during Israel’s war and are now at risk of collapse.
It said the crisis has been compounded by the lack of alternative housing, restrictions on the entry of temporary shelters and the deteriorating condition of tents, particularly as winter rains and strong winds approach.
The ministry called on international organizations, mediators and guarantors of the ceasefire to urgently facilitate the entry of temporary shelters and provide alternative accommodation for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in damaged buildings and deteriorating tents.
It also called for Gaza’s Civil Defense to be provided with urgently needed equipment, saying severe shortages continue to hamper rescue and recovery operations and leave thousands of Palestinians buried beneath the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war.
The ministry praised Civil Defense, medical and police crews for working for hours with limited resources and thanked the Gaza Municipality, Ministry of Public Works, Egyptian Committee, International Committee of the Red Cross, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UN Development Programme for assisting in the operation.
This report was produced in the Gaza Herald newsroom.
