Gaza Residents Shelter in Damaged Buildings Despite Risks

Thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza are sheltering inside severely damaged and structurally unstable buildings due to an acute housing shortage and high rental costs. Local emergency services and international agencies have warned that many of these structures are at immediate risk of collapse, yet residents report having no alternative options for shelter.

The situation turned deadly on September 16, when a war-damaged, six-storey residential building collapsed in Gaza City. According to United Nations agencies and the Gaza Civil Defence, the incident resulted in the deaths of 21 people, including 12 children, underscoring the severe risks facing families occupying damaged infrastructure.

Living Under Compromised Structures

In Gaza City’s Palestine Square area, 60-year-old Masada Abu Jarad lives in an apartment with a partially collapsed concrete roof where steel reinforcement bars remain exposed. Following warnings from the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defence instructing her family to evacuate, they pitched a tent inside the exposed section of their room. Abu Jarad, who was displaced from Beit Lahiya earlier in the conflict, stated that she cannot afford alternative rental housing. “I want to leave, but who will give me an alternative?” she said.

In the southern Remal neighbourhood of Gaza City, roughly 17 families—comprising 50 to 60 people—reside in the six-storey al-Najma building. Municipal authorities have posted warning notices on the exterior walls declaring the structure unsafe. Abdullah Abu Hajar, a 40-year-old father of five displaced from Beit Hanoon, remains awake at night monitoring structural noises such as creaking walls and shifting concrete. Abu Hajar noted that while his children have grown accustomed to the environment, his anxiety increased significantly following the September 16 collapse.

Severe Supply Restrictions and Approaching Winter

Other residents describe similar living conditions in precarious facilities. Islam Hassanein, a 36-year-old mother of five, has lived for nearly a year in a single, debris-strewn room on the third floor of a leaning building. The structure lacks working plumbing, requiring her family to utilize outdoor sanitation facilities. Hassanein noted that a structural column previously fell, leading to a temporary evacuation before residents returned. “We keep looking, but we can’t find anywhere,” she said.

Aid organizations and residents express rising concern as winter approaches, pointing out that rainfall and lower temperatures will place additional structural pressure on compromised buildings. Exposed roofs and cracked walls frequently flood during storms, exacerbating health and safety risks. According to the United Nations, Israeli restrictions on importing essential shelter materials, including tents and tarpaulins, have severely restricted relief efforts and left families with few safe alternatives.

Background

The housing crisis is part of widespread infrastructure destruction across the Gaza Strip. A joint assessment conducted by the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Union found that 371,888 housing units—representing 76.6 percent of Gaza’s total housing stock—had been damaged or destroyed as of October 2025. The report estimated that full reconstruction will require more than $71 billion over the next decade. Overall fatalities during the conflict have exceeded 73,000 Palestinians.