Source: Save the Children
At least eight children were reported killed early today, and dozens more are among 100 people missing following the collapse of a six or seven story building damaged by an earlier Israeli strike in Gaza City.
As rescuers comb through the rubble, some digging with their bare hands, Israeli restrictions on the entry of essential machinery and rescue equipment are directly hampering efforts to reach people trapped beneath the rubble, putting more lives at risk.
Save the Children said Israel must lift these restrictions immediately and live up to its obligations under the so-called ‘ceasefire’ agreement.
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said at least 50 children could be among the missing. More than 10 families lived in the building, which also reportedly fell on tents and makeshift shelters nearby.
The building had been bombed previously during the war and displaced families were living there due to a lack of available shelter. The Civil Defence warned that some 2,000 damaged buildings, currently sheltering large numbers of people, are at risk of collapse.
Shuroaq, Save the Children Media Manager in the occupied Palestinian territory:
“At dawn while we were sleeping, we heard a blast that sounded like bombing, and the whole house was covered in dust. We thought the building we were in was the target. I have just came back from the site and everyone in Gaza is there trying to help with rescue teams. The situation is dire. People are screaming, and others are digging with their bare hands. Children could be heard screaming and pleading for help from underneath the rubble.
“The building is huge. There are people missing from the tents near the building that collapsed on them. People are scared that with the scarcity of equipment and machinery the rescue machine will take days. In Gaza buildings are constantly collapsing on displaced families. These things have been constantly happening, but this is a huge building. Dozens were living there.
“I saw the bodies of a woman and her child being recovered. They were lying together on a mattress where they had been sleeping. This is not a sight that anyone should or ever could ever get used to. I know a family who lived in this collapsed building. They had only recently moved there, fleeing the artillery shells that were close to their tent. Most of the family members are children, and no one from the family has been recovered yet. This is a danger that threatens everyone here in Gaza.”
Hiba AlHejazi, Save the Children Advocacy, Campaigns, Communications and Media Director in the occupied Palestinian territory:
“Nearly a year after its signing, the so-called ‘ceasefire’ continues to fail children. This tragedy did not happen in isolation. Israel’s destruction of homes has displaced families, while its restrictions on the entry of tents, shelter materials and reconstruction supplies have left them with no safe alternative but to live in damaged and unstable buildings. When those buildings collapse, the same restrictions leave rescue teams digging through the rubble with their bare hands.
“Israel is actively blocking the equipment and machinery needed to rescue people and support meaningful recovery and reconstruction. These restrictions must be lifted immediately. The international community must act urgently to press Israel to lift them, or we will continue to witness entirely preventable mass-casualty events like the one we saw this morning.”