An explosion in a multistorey residential building east of Gaza city killed one person and injured at least 10, officials said on Thursday.
Videos on social media showed plumes of black smoke and extensive damage after the blast in the Al Zawiya market area.
The blast caused large parts of the apartment block to collapse and damaged dozens of buildings and shops nearby, according to a statement by the Gaza Strip's Interior Ministry.
Police explosives engineering teams continue to investigate the causes of the explosion. Civil defence teams and the police were able to control the resulting fire.
Police, civil defence and ambulance teams have taken the casualties to Al Shifaa hospital, the ministry said on Twitter.
“The explosion in a multistorey residential building led to its partial collapse and damage to nearby houses and shops,” interior ministry spokesman Iyad Bozum said on his Facebook page.
“One dead and 10 injured were transported to Al Shifaa hospital,” he said.
The Israeli army signalled it wasn’t involved, calling the crisis an “internal” matter in Gaza.
The blast shook the neighbourhood on the third day of Eid Al Adha.
Gaza was already struggling with heavy damage sustained from an 11-day war in May between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. The devastation means celebrations this year were muted.
“Eid is for the people who have no destruction, have no [dead], it is for the people who did not see what we saw. What happened to us here in the Baali neighbourhood [in northern Gaza] makes everyone wonder how these people are still alive,” Esraa Nassir says.
Ms Nassir's home has a large hole in the wall from an Israeli shell. She and her family have a full view of the bustling streets below.
At least 254 people were killed in Gaza during the conflict, including 67 children and 39 women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Hamas has acknowledged the deaths of 80 militants. Twelve civilians, including two children, were killed in Israel, along with one soldier.
The World Bank earlier this month said rebuilding Gaza would cost $485 million, including up to $380 million to repair the physical damage alone.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
