Gaza Families Trapped in Destabilized Buildings as Reconstruction Stalls

GAZA CITY – Masada Abu Jarad’s home in Gaza City now has a roof made of jagged concrete and twisted rebar, with an open section exposing her family to the elements. Beneath the debris, a tent provides the only shelter for the 60-year-old and her relatives. Although the Palestinian Red Crescent and Civil Defence recently warned the family that the structure is unsafe, Abu Jarad feels she has no other option.

Israel has blocked proper reconstruction efforts following nearly three years of conflict that has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians. “We have no options,” Abu Jarad said. “I want to leave, but who will give me an alternative?” She is originally from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza but remains displaced there due to widespread destruction.

Her plight illustrates a catastrophic housing crisis across the territory. A joint assessment by the United Nations, World Bank, and European Union released in October 2025 found that 371,888 housing units, representing 76.6% of the total stock, had been destroyed or damaged. Rebuilding is estimated to require more than $71 billion over the next decade.

The dangers of the depleted housing supply were highlighted on September 16, when a six-story war-damaged residential building in Gaza City collapsed, killing 21 people, including 12 children. The incident has intensified fears among residents living in similarly compromised structures.

Abdullah Abu Hajar, 40, lives with his wife and five children in the al-Najma building in Gaza City’s Remal neighborhood. The six-story structure is severely damaged, with municipal notices on the exterior warning of collapse risks. Approximately 17 families, totaling 50 to 60 people, reside there.

Abdullah, originally displaced from Beit Hanoon, spends his nights awake listening for sounds of shifting concrete or creaking beams while his family sleeps. Since the September collapse, he says he barely sleeps. “I’m already on edge, but I don’t know where I can go,” he said.

The uncertainty extends to his extended family. Abdullah noted that a relative moves constantly between northern and southern Gaza searching for a place to pitch a tent. Although Abdullah invited him to stay, the relative declined due to the instability of the al-Najma building, despite having nowhere else to go.

Islam Hassanein, a mother of five, has spent nearly a year living in a single rubble-filled room on the third floor of a damaged building. After finding the space, her family cleaned it and moved in. The building is visibly leaning, and broken plumbing forces the family to use outdoor facilities.

“Every day, you hear the cracking,” Hassanein said. She recalled a previous incident where a column fell, forcing a temporary evacuation. With winter approaching, she fears the weakened structures will face additional pressure from heavy rain and flooding. “Last winter was terrifying,” she said. “Now, I am very afraid of this winter, and I don’t know what we are going to do.”

United Nations agencies report that thousands are sheltering in unsafe buildings because better housing is unavailable. Israeli restrictions on the import of tents, tarpaulins, and other shelter materials have exacerbated the crisis, leaving Gaza in a state of limbo.

UNICEF estimates that nearly 84% of Gaza’s population, exceeding 1.76 million people, live in overcrowded displacement sites or inadequate shelters with little protection from the cold and rain. For families like Hassanein’s, the decision to stay in dangerous buildings is driven by a lack of alternatives rather than choice.

“If they find us a good place and provide us with a tent, we will leave from the morning,” Hassanein said. “But where is this place? And where is the tent?”