Rescue teams in Gaza concluded their search on Thursday after a war-damaged residential building collapsed in Gaza City, killing 21 people and leaving 45 others rescued from the rubble, according to Gaza Civil Defence.

The six-storey Al-Saada building collapsed early on Wednesday after previously sustaining damage during Israeli strikes. More than 110 people had been living in the building, many of them displaced Palestinians who had moved there because they had nowhere else to stay.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for Gaza Civil Defence, told Reuters that eight children were among those killed and that about half of the injured were also children. He said rescue teams had worked without the equipment needed for such an operation but managed to pull 45 people from beneath the rubble and transfer them to hospitals.

“We don't have the needed equipment. Despite that, rescue teams did a heroic job and rescued 45 people from under the rubble,” Basal said.

The building's collapse has renewed concerns about families living in structures weakened during the conflict. The UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Ramiz Alakbarov, said hundreds of damaged structures across Gaza were considered unsafe because residents had few alternatives.

Alakbarov said Egypt had provided heavy machinery to support the emergency response and called for urgent approvals for additional machinery, specialised rescue equipment, fuel and other supplies. He also urged the delivery of tents and other shelter materials ahead of the winter rains.

At the site on Thursday, bulldozers cleared rubble to prepare the ground for tents for survivors. Residents also searched through the debris for personal belongings and food.

Nader El-Ejlah, a survivor who said several of his relatives were killed, told Reuters that his family had moved into the damaged building because they could not find another place to stay.

“Unless a solution is found to provide displaced people with new shelters, the collapse would not be the last,” he said.

The United Nations said the building had been occupied by an estimated 100 people, including about 50 children, when it collapsed. The UN humanitarian response has called for safer alternatives for families living in damaged structures.

The wider scale of structural damage remains substantial. A UN satellite assessment found that about 82 per cent of structures in Gaza had sustained damage by June 2026, including more than 134,000 structures classified as destroyed. A separate joint assessment by the UN, World Bank and European Union estimated Gaza's recovery and reconstruction needs at $71.4 billion over the coming decade.

Palestinian and UN officials have attributed shortages of heavy machinery for rubble removal and reconstruction to restrictions on equipment entering Gaza. Israel says such restrictions are intended to prevent equipment from reaching armed groups.

A US-brokered ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 included provisions for humanitarian assistance and eventual reconstruction, but major rebuilding has yet to begin. Negotiations over the next stages of the agreement have remained linked to unresolved issues including Hamas's disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The collapse has added to concerns over the safety of displaced families who remain in damaged buildings because adequate shelter alternatives are unavailable.