{"id":5674,"date":"2026-09-26T05:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T05:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5674"},"modified":"2026-09-26T05:49:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T05:49:04","slug":"nowhere-else-to-go-gaza-families-shelter-in-buildings-that-may-collapse-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5674","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Nowhere else to go\u2019: Gaza families shelter in buildings that may collapse | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gaza City, Gaza Strip \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>The partially collapsed roof above Masada Abu Jarad\u2019s apartment is now made up of broken concrete with twisted steel bars protruding from its edges.<\/p>\n

And underneath the section of the room that is now open to the elements after the building\u2019s partial collapse, Masada\u2019s family have pitched a tent to provide shelter.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

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The 60-year-old knows the structure is dangerous. The Palestinian Red Crescent and the Civil Defence visited the family last week and warned them that they should leave. But in Gaza, where Israel refuses to allow proper reconstruction to take place after almost three years of its genocidal war<\/a>, there are few places for them to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no options,\u201d Masada says. \u201cI want to leave, but who will give me an alternative?\u201d<\/p>\n

She has lived in the building in Gaza City\u2019s Palestine Square area for the past year, after returning to northern Gaza from displacement earlier in the war. But this still isn\u2019t home. Masada\u2019s family is originally from Beit Lahiya<\/a> in the far north of the Strip, but had to leave early in the war after Israel decimated the area. They are still unable to return.<\/p>\n

After repeated displacement, the prospect of moving again without a safe destination has become exhausting. And even if they could move, the cost is prohibitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if there is a better place, tell me how I can afford to rent it,\u201d Masada said.<\/p>\n

Masada\u2019s experience reflects a wider housing crisis across Gaza for the Palestinians who have survived Israel\u2019s war, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians.<\/p>\n

A joint assessment by the United Nations, World Bank, and European Union found that 371,888 housing units, 76.6 percent of the housing stock, had been destroyed or damaged as of October 2025. The assessment also found that rebuilding Gaza<\/a> will need more than $71bn over the next decade.<\/p>\n

The dangers of Gaza\u2019s depleted and damaged housing stock became starkly visible on September 16, when a six-storey war-damaged residential building in Gaza City collapsed, killing 21 people, including 12 children, according to the UN and Gaza Civil Defence.<\/p>\n

The collapse has become a warning for families living in other damaged structures.<\/p>\n

\"Gaza\u2019s
Gaza\u2019s municipality and civil defence have warned residents to evacuate buildings at risk of collapse [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I stay awake so they can sleep\u2019<\/h2>\n

Abdullah Abu Hajar, 40, lives with his wife and five children in the al-Najma building in Gaza City\u2019s southern Remal neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

The six-storey building is severely damaged and unstable. About 17 families, roughly 50 to 60 people, are living there, according to Abdullah.<\/p>\n

On the outside walls, municipal notices warn residents and passers-by that the building is unsafe and at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n

At night, while his wife and children try to sleep, Abdullah stays awake and listens.<\/p>\n

Every unfamiliar sound, such as concrete shifting, stones moving or an unexplained creaking somewhere inside the building, puts him on alert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stay awake all night, keeping watch,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t close my eyes. I keep just listening to sounds around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abdullah
Abdullah Abu Hajar stands near the damaged building where he lives with his family [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abdullah explained that he feels worried for his children, even though they have adapted to the danger. But he has not.<\/p>\n

And after the September 16 building collapse, he grew even more fearful.\u00a0Since then, he said, he has barely slept.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m already on edge,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know where I can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdullah and his family were displaced from Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza after it was attacked by Israel, and moved repeatedly during the war, eventually finding the al-Najma building.<\/p>\n

His extended family faces the same uncertainty. Abdullah said that one of his relatives has been moving between southern and northern Gaza, looking for a place where he can pitch a tent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him to come and stay with us,\u201d Abdullah said. \u201cBut he is hesitant because of the condition of this building. At the same time, he has nowhere else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Islam
Islam Hassanein is particularly worried about how weather conditions in the winter will affect the partially collapsed building she lives in [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A room among the rubble<\/h2>\n

For Islam Hassanein, 36, the same fears are entwined with the place she calls home.<\/p>\n

A mother of five, Islam has spent nearly a year living with her family in a single room on the third floor of a damaged building.<\/p>\n

She found the room after searching for somewhere to stay. It was filled with rubble and debris.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cleaned it and stayed in it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The building is leaning and visibly damaged. The plumbing doesn\u2019t work, so the family uses a bathroom outside. There is little that resembles a family home.<\/p>\n

But leaving has proved no easier than staying. \u201cWe keep looking, but we can\u2019t find anywhere,\u201d she says. \u201cThey might even force us out of here. What are we supposed to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Islam says she would leave immediately if she were offered a safe place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they find us a good place and provide us with a tent, we will leave from the morning,\u201d she says. \u201cBut where is this place? And where is the tent?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Islam\u2019s
Islam\u2019s daughters sit inside the room where they live in the al-Najma building, which is at risk of collapse.
[Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The building itself regularly reminds her of the dangers.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, you hear the cracking,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople who live here tell us, \u2018It\u2019s cracking.\u2019 Then a column fell, and they took us out of the building temporarily.\u201d<\/p>\n

The potentially deadly risks will become harder to manage as winter approaches, with its colder and wetter weather.<\/p>\n

Water can enter through exposed roofs and walls, and the already weakened structure will face additional pressure from heavy rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast winter was terrifying,\u201d Islam said. \u201cWe were constantly afraid that the building would collapse. I spent most days in my family\u2019s tent because this building was full of openings and would flood whenever it rained.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I am very afraid of this winter, and I don\u2019t know what we are going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN says thousands of people are sheltering in damaged buildings considered unsafe because better housing options are unavailable.<\/p>\n

Israeli restrictions<\/a> on the entry of tents, tarpaulins and other essential shelter materials are making the situation more difficult, leaving Gaza in a state of limbo, unable to move on from the war, particularly as Israel can choose to escalate the conflict at any time.<\/p>\n

UNICEF estimates that nearly 84 percent of Gaza\u2019s population, more than 1.76 million people, are living in overcrowded displacement sites or damaged and inadequate shelters, with little protection from cold, heavy rain and flooding.<\/p>\n

Islam says the war has forced families to take risks they once would have considered unthinkable.<\/p>\n

She worries about her five children, but sees few choices available to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are all afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cBut what can we do? If there is an alternative, I will leave. We leave it to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The damaged al-Najma building is among the structures at risk of collapse in Gaza [Abdelhakim Abu Riash\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n


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Gaza City, Gaza Strip \u2013\u00a0The partially collapsed roof above Masada Abu Jarad\u2019s apartment is now made up of broken concrete with twisted steel bars protruding from its edges. And underneath the section of the room that is now open to the elements after the building\u2019s partial collapse, Masada\u2019s family have pitched a tent to provide…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t