Hala Jaber@HalaJaber
Let’s talk about Rania Mallah, killed yesterday in an Israeli strike on Bourj al-Shamali in Tyre.
For 12 hours, Rania was buried beneath the rubble & known to still be alive.
Her family kept calling her mobile phone.
She would switch it on to let them know she was still there. Still breathing. Still waiting to be rescued.
To let Lebanese Civil Defence rescuers know where she was trapped.
Rescue teams pulled others out & kept digging with their bare hands in search of her, until orders came to halt all rescue operations until the following morning.
But they had Rania’s number.
They kept calling her.
And she kept answering.
She never spoke.
But they could hear her breathing.
For 12 hours, Rania lay there alone beneath broken concrete, stones, darkness, dust & fear. Most likely injured. Listening to voices above her, knowing people were trying to reach her but were being prevented from continuing.
Just like in Maarakeh, rescuers were forced to stop searching overnight.
Still, they kept calling her phone to give her hope. To let her know she had not been abandoned.
By around 1:00 a.m., roughly 12 hours after the strike, her phone finally went dead.
The battery had most likely run out.
This morning, rescuers resumed the search.
They found Rania.
Next to her was her mobile phone.
She had died.
Israel killed her twice.
The first time with a bomb.
The second time when rescuers were prevented from saving her.
