A damaged residential building in western Gaza City collapsed early Wednesday, killing at least 21 Palestinians. The al-Saada building, which had been visibly weakened by the war, came down suddenly, trapping dozens under the rubble. Rescue operations are ongoing but severely hampered by a lack of heavy machinery.

Hayat al-Ajlah, 37, was asleep on the third floor with her family when she heard a cracking sound. "I woke up to check my phone. Suddenly, I heard a sound like something cracking. It felt like something was falling from underneath us," she said. Moments later, the building collapsed. Hayat was trapped beneath the rubble, surrounded by dust and darkness. She heard her 74-year-old father calling for her 12-year-old son Yasser before his voice faded. "I panicked and started screaming for my four children," she said.

Neighbors and civil defense workers worked for nearly an hour to pull Hayat and her children from the rubble. Nine members of her extended family were killed, including her parents, four siblings, and three nephews and nieces. Her four children survived, but her daughter Dalia was taken to hospital with a serious head injury. Hayat is still searching for her.

The family had been displaced from Shujayea to Deir el-Balah before returning about two months ago. They moved into an empty apartment on the third floor of the damaged building because living in a tent was unbearable. Hayat's father had been afraid of the building and was planning to find another place.

At al-Shifa Hospital, relatives of the victims gathered in grief. Umm Mahmoud Saada lost her son Mahmoud, his wife, and their children. Mahmoud, 38, was the father of six girls and a boy. He had been living in a tent in southern Gaza and returned to Gaza City a month ago due to his difficult financial situation. "Yesterday, he visited me. We prayed the noon prayer together, ate together and then he left," she said. "Why is all this happening to us?"

The search operation has been prolonged by a severe shortage of heavy machinery and essential equipment, a direct result of Israeli restrictions on imports into Gaza. Palestinian Civil Defence teams have been forced to rely on limited and basic tools. Mansour Bakroun, 56, was sitting in front of his tent when the building collapsed. "The building is around 150 metres away. At first, I ran back, calling for my family to flee," he said. He added that the building had been visibly damaged since the beginning of the war, with pieces of wall and stone falling daily.

Another local man, Huzaifa Mohammed, said he had long feared a collapse. "Every day, I imagine these buildings collapsing. Every day, pieces of stone and walls are falling, and people ask: Where should we go?" he said. He described the sight of children being pulled from the rubble as incomprehensible. "When I see a little girl brought out with her head crushed, I ask myself: What if this were my daughter or my son?" he said. "How long are we going to keep living like this? We need solutions. We need someone to look at our situation and ask: How much longer can this continue?"

Source: www.aljazeera.com