Gaza’s Civil Defense warned the Board of Peace and countries guaranteeing the Gaza “ceasefire” of a “certain disaster” this winter, as hundreds of damaged buildings remain at risk of collapse and displaced Palestinians lack safe alternative shelter.
The warning followed the collapse of a multistorey building housing displaced people in Gaza City, killing 14 people and leaving about 100 others, including children, unaccounted for.
The Civil Defence said the building sheltered 10 families who had been forced to remain there despite its unsafe condition because of the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocide.
Meanwhile, rescue operations have been severely slowed by the lack of heavy equipment needed to search the rubble and reach trapped Palestinians.
“We can still hear the voices of people alive beneath the rubble so there is still hope,” said Raed al-Dahshan, director of Gaza’s civil defence agency.
“We expect the rescue and recovery operations to take a long time because we are working with our bare hands, and the situation is extremely sensitive. The difficulties we face are because of the lack of resources. Civil defence needs heavy equipment so it can respond immediately.”
Rescue operations are being conducted in coordination with Gaza Municipality, the Egyptian Committee, the Arab Authority, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, while the UN Development Programme is supporting the search efforts.
A Civil Defence spokesperson said rescuers had recovered 14 bodies, including five children, from beneath the rubble.
“Beneath this building there are about 100 bodies – or 100 people whose fate remains unknown,” the spokesperson told a news conference.
“We urgently call for the equipment needed for recovery operations,” the spokesperson said.
The Civil Defence warned that the collapsed building is part of a wider structural crisis across the Gaza Strip, with about 2,000 buildings in inhabited areas reportedly in similarly precarious condition.
“About 2,000 buildings across inhabited areas of the Gaza Strip are in a similarly precarious structural condition with residents unable to leave them because of a lack of alternative shelter.”
The agency urged the urgent deployment of excavators and rescue equipment to search for survivors and warned that further building collapses could occur as winter approaches.