A residential building in Gaza City, previously damaged during the war, has collapsed, killing at least 20 Palestinians, including women and children, while leaving dozens feared trapped beneath the debris.

Palestinian Civil Defence officials said on Wednesday that the overnight collapse of the six-storey building killed at least 20 people, including five children, and injured 14 others.

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Verified footage showed rescue workers removing children from the rubble as residents joined the effort, digging through the wreckage with their hands. Witnesses said cries from children trapped below could be heard while civil defence teams tried to reach survivors.

In one video, a young girl was brought out alive from the ruins. Other survivors, including several small children who appeared to be struggling to breathe, were also pulled free and taken away in ambulances.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence, said teams were continuing to search for bodies and missing residents beneath the collapsed structure. He said that nearly 100 Palestinians may still be trapped under the debris.

He added that rescue operations were made far more difficult by the lack of specialised machinery and equipment needed to remove heavy concrete safely.

Local reports said the building had been hit during an earlier Israeli bombardment, leaving it cracked and severely weakened before it eventually gave way.

Israel’s war on Gaza has damaged or partly destroyed thousands of buildings throughout the besieged territory, while restrictions on construction supplies have made repairs difficult or impossible.

Basal said many Palestinians have no choice but to remain in unsafe homes that threaten their lives because there are no adequate shelters, displacement centres or suitable tents available.

Restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery have also limited the ability of civil defence crews to clear wreckage and conduct rescue operations safely.

As a result, emergency teams are often forced to rely on manual work to reach people trapped after similar collapses, delaying critical rescue efforts.

“This is not the first building to collapse, and we fear it will not be the last,” Gaza City Mayor Yahya Al Sarraj said.

He said the municipality and civil defence services were effectively paralysed, working under severe pressure with insufficient equipment despite their efforts to save lives.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said it held Israel and the international community directly responsible for the disaster.

It said the six-floor building, which contained four apartments on each level, had been directly hit during the war, damaging its foundations and structure until it ultimately collapsed.