At least 21 people have been killed after a war-damaged residential building collapsed overnight in Gaza City, with displaced families among those sheltering inside the six-storey structure. The building had reportedly been damaged in an earlier Israeli strike and was left structurally unsafe, but families continued living there amid the severe shortage of alternative shelter. The collapse triggered a desperate search-and-rescue operation as Palestinian Civil Defence teams, residents, UN agencies and Egyptian personnel worked through the wreckage. Rescue crews faced severe shortages of heavy equipment, with some responders forced to dig through the rubble by hand in an effort to reach people trapped underneath. Reports said dozens of people were initially feared trapped beneath the debris. WATCH

The Saudi-Houthi conflict is escalating sharply, with Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement claiming that Saudi warplanes carried out 40 airstrikes across Taiz, Marib and Hodeidah within 24 hours. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strikes were carried out by Saudi F-15 fighter jets operating from Khamis Mushait Air Base. The claims come amid a wider surge in fighting across western Yemen and growing tensions around the strategically vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The Houthis have also claimed attacks on Saudi targets, including an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Khamis Mushait air base, using ballistic missiles and drones. The group further claimed that it shot down a Saudi F-15 over Marib using a locally manufactured surface-to-air missile. Saudi authorities have not publicly confirmed the F-15 claim, and independent verification of several Houthi battlefield claims remains limited.