Gaza, Sep 17: The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in western Gaza City rose to 21, including 11 children and six women, with more than 25 injured, local officials and residents have said.

The six-storey Al-Saada building, previously damaged by Israeli bombardment, collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday near the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal on Wednesday (local time).

The building housed about 100 displaced people, residents said.

Basal said rescue teams saved 45 people and recovered 21 bodies during a 16-hour operation.

Another 35 managed to escape, he added.

Dozens of grieving relatives gathered outside the collapsed building, some digging with bare hands, reports Xinhua news agency.

Louay al-Ajla, 54, lost nearly 10 family members in the collapse.

“I received the news at dawn. It was devastating,” al-Ajla said.

Palestinian authorities blamed Israel for restricting heavy machinery and equipment needed for rescue efforts.

The Hamas-run media office in Gaza said in a statement that more than 8,500 missing people remained buried beneath rubble across the Gaza Strip due to difficulties in bringing in heavy machinery and rescue equipment, calling thousands of damaged buildings “ticking time bombs.”

Basal added that more than 2,000 residential buildings risk collapse as winter approaches, calling on the so-called “Board of Peace” and ceasefire-guaranteeing countries to facilitate equipment entry, warning of “imminent disasters.”

The collapse occurred amid continued ceasefire violations, with no progress in talks between Hamas and Israel despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025.

Kathmandu, Sep 17: The Nepal government has made it mandatory to report details of lost, stolen or cancelled Nepali passports to Interpol within 24 hours of being notified by the concerned person.

Under the “Procedure on updating details of lost, stolen and cancelled passports with Interpol, 2026,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stipulated that details of such passports must be updated in Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is the world’s largest international police organisation, connecting law enforcement agencies across 196 member countries.

For the purpose of updating the details, the Department of Passports will designate officials responsible for handling such cases and establish a coordination mechanism. The department will also maintain records of lost and stolen passports and coordinate with the Interpol National Central Bureau of Nepal Police.

The procedure introduced on Wednesday states that the information provided must include details such as the type of passport or travel document, passport number, date of issue, expiry date, date on which it was lost, stolen or cancelled, and the possible location where it was lost or stolen.

The provision aims to institutionalize the timely sharing of information among relevant agencies and ensure that details of lost or stolen passports issued by Nepal are made available internationally to help prevent their potential misuse, the ministry said.

Information involving an immediate risk of terrorism, organised crime, human trafficking, illegal international travel or other forms of misuse must be prioritized and forwarded without delay.

According to the procedure, if a passport is lost or stolen, the passport holder or their authorized representative must notify the Department of Passports in writing. If the passport holder is abroad, they must notify the nearest Nepali diplomatic mission either personally or through an authorized representative.

Upon receiving such information, the Department of Passports must search for the passport number and other available details in its system, verify the applicant’s identity and passport information, and ascertain the document’s actual status.

The passport must then be marked in the system as “lost” or “stolen,” with necessary controls applied to prevent its use. The required information must subsequently be prepared and sent to the designated official or the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB), Kathmandu, of Nepal Police.

Similarly, Nepali diplomatic missions abroad must verify the details of a passport after receiving a report that it has been lost or stolen and immediately forward the information to the Department of Passports. They must also inform the concerned person that the passport can no longer be used.

Jerusalem, Sep 17: Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said that progress toward an agreement with Lebanon on disarming Hezbollah cannot be made unless the Lebanese army significantly improves its effectiveness on the ground, weeks before a new round of US-mediated talks.

During a visit to troops near the Lebanese border on Wednesday (local time), Zamir said that the Israeli military is “determined to rid the area south of the Litani River of Hezbollah’s presence, alongside advancing the overarching objective of disarming Hezbollah.”

“This objective cannot be advanced as part of a desired agreement with the Lebanese government as long as the Lebanese Armed Forces do not significantly improve their effectiveness on the ground,” he said.

Zamir also said Israel’s updated defence concept relied on maintaining troops “deep inside enemy territory beyond the border.” Israeli forces currently occupy an area extending roughly 10 km into southern Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon are due to meet in Rome in October for another round of US-mediated talks aimed at reaching a security agreement, according to US officials.

A June ceasefire framework envisaged an Israeli withdrawal alongside the disarmament of Hezbollah, but implementation has stalled as Israel continues to carry out almost daily strikes in Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.

Lebanon has repeatedly demanded that Israeli forces leave its territory.

Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue destroying Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, days after Washington reportedly said Israeli and Lebanese officials would resume US-mediated security talks next month.

“We will continue to destroy the terror infrastructure in the ‘security zone’ in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a video statement, referring to territory in southern Lebanon where Israeli troops remain deployed despite a ceasefire that took effect in June.

He warned that Israel would inflict “even heavier blows” if attacked.

Netanyahu said Israeli forces had destroyed what he described as major Hezbollah strongholds at the Beaufort and Ali al-Taher ridges. Israel said last week it had destroyed more than 2 km of underground Hezbollah infrastructure at Ali al-Taher after taking control of the area.