Gaza families shelter in damaged buildings at risk of collapse

Families in Gaza City are living inside damaged buildings that local rescue teams say could collapse, as repeated displacement leaves many with nowhere safer to go. One family is sheltering in a partially collapsed apartment near Palestine Square, where a tent has been pitched beneath a roof broken open by concrete and exposed steel. The case highlights the wider housing crisis across Gaza after years of war and severe damage to homes and infrastructure.

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The family's situation became more urgent after the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defence visited last week and warned them to leave the building. The apartment belongs to 60-year-old Masada Abu Jarad, who said she knows the structure is dangerous but has no alternative place to move. She said she wants to leave, but cannot find another option and cannot afford rent elsewhere.

Masada's family originally comes from Beit Lahiya in the far north of the Strip, but left early in the war after the area was heavily destroyed. They later returned to northern Gaza after displacement, only to find that the building they are now using is still unsafe. The report says the family has lived there for the past year, underscoring how displacement has become prolonged rather than temporary for many residents.

The case matters because it reflects the scale of housing destruction and the lack of safe shelter for civilians in Gaza. A joint assessment by the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union found that 371,888 housing units, or 76.6% of the housing stock, had been destroyed or damaged as of October 2025. The same assessment said rebuilding Gaza would require more than $71bn over the next decade, showing how far recovery remains from reach.

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The immediate danger is not theoretical. On September 16, a six-storey war-damaged residential building in Gaza City collapsed, killing 21 people, including 12 children, according to the United Nations and Gaza Civil Defence. That collapse has become a warning for families still living in damaged structures, especially in areas where reconstruction has not begun and where residents say they have nowhere else to go.

The latest case shows how the risk continues even when buildings remain standing. The report also places the housing crisis in the context of the wider human toll of the war. It says more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed, and that prolonged displacement has left many families unable to return to their original homes.

For people like Masada Abu Jarad, the problem is not only damage to buildings but the absence of any realistic alternative, whether because of safety, cost or the lack of available housing. The warning from rescue teams adds pressure to an already strained civilian response system. Civil Defence and the Palestinian Red Crescent are among the main local bodies trying to assess unsafe buildings and advise residents, but their warnings do not solve the shortage of shelter.

The report says reconstruction remains blocked, which means damaged homes continue to be used despite the known risks. What remains unclear is how many other families are living in similarly unstable buildings and whether any immediate relocation options will be made available. The next developments to watch are whether residents heed the warnings, whether further collapses occur, and whether any practical steps are taken to open safe housing or reconstruction.

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For now, the situation points to a continuing emergency in which many displaced families are forced to choose between unsafe shelter and having nowhere to stay.

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