The Israeli army bombed an entire residential block east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip at dawn on September 17. Over seven buildings housing Palestinian families were completely destroyed, caving in on top of the heads of their inhabitants. According to witnesses, the Israeli army prevented ambulance and Civil Defense crews from reaching the site to rescue those who may have survived, using quadcopter drones to shoot at anyone who arrived.

Civil Defense teams had first arrived at the site at around 5:30 a.m. and began rescue efforts, despite the difficulty of working in the dark without proper equipment.