Gaza building collapse death toll rises to 21, with 12 children among the dead, officials say

The death toll from a residential building collapse in Gaza City rose to 21 as of Thursday, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, as rescue crews continued searching for people trapped beneath the rubble.

The ministry said those killed included 12 children, five women, two men and two elderly people. At least 14 others were injured.

The high-rise had been sheltering many Palestinian families displaced by the war between Hamas and Israel. It came down Wednesday morning, triggering a major search-and-rescue operation.

Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images — Rescuers excavate rubble to retrieve bodies from a collapsed building in the Tal al-Hawa area of Gaza City on Sept. 16, 2026.

Officials believe a number of people remain missing beneath the debris. The Health Ministry said Wednesday that some were still unaccounted for, while Gaza’s Committee for the Reception and Recovery of Bodies said more than 60 people were missing as of Wednesday afternoon.

The building was among many in the Palestinian territory that have been damaged by Israeli strikes during the war, which began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, which operates under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said Wednesday that roughly 2,000 buildings across the strip are at risk of collapse.

The collapse comes against a backdrop of widespread destruction. A 2025 United Nations investigation using satellite imagery found that about 81% of all structures in Gaza had been damaged since the start of 2023. As of April 2026, another UN report said more than 1.2 million people — nearly 60% of Gaza’s population — had lost their homes.

ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Nasser Atta, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.