A war-damaged apartment building in Gaza collapsed overnight, killing at least 16 Palestinians, including children, and trapping dozens under the rubble. The Palestinian Civil Defence reported that 16 people, including five children, were killed, and 14 others were injured in the incident involving a seven-storey building. Nearly 100 more people were believed to be trapped. Rescue efforts included workers pulling two people from under a collapsed wall, as shown in a video obtained by Reuters. Another video showed Gaza's civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, carrying a little girl wrapped in a blood-stained scarf. Raed Al-Dahshan, director of Gaza City's civil defence service, said at least 10 families lived in the collapsed building and that there was still hope of finding survivors. "We are still hearing voices from under the rubble, so there is still hope to find people," said Dahshan. Alessandro Mrakic, head of the U.N. Development Programme's Gaza office, noted that rescuers from some U.N. agencies were taking part in the rescue efforts, which he described as difficult due to the lack of proper machinery. Egypt's relief agency was also involved in the rescue efforts. Mrakic said the situation was tragic because of the lack of necessary equipment and machinery, adding that some people were digging with their bare hands. He warned that there could be more deaths and mentioned that approximately 400 buildings were at risk of collapse, especially with the upcoming winter. Palestinian and U.N. officials blamed Israel's restrictions on Gaza for the lack of heavy machinery in the territory. Israel stated its curbs aimed to keep equipment out of the hands of militant groups. Israel's assault on Gaza, launched after Hamas' deadly raid into Israel in October 2023, has generated around 61 million tons of wreckage and debris, according to the United Nations. Dahshan warned residents to stay away from wrecked buildings due to the risk of collapse. The local rescue service reported that about 2,000 damaged buildings were inhabited by families. Dahshan said the limited availability of shelter options forced residents to move into the building, believing it was safe, but it collapsed entirely, tragically crashing down on people as they slept. Many families have told Reuters in the past months that they resorted to living in partially damaged buildings to protect themselves against wind and rainstorms and due to the lack of new tents for the homeless.