Somaia Swairky is a lovely young woman with beautiful features and an innocent expression. She is 20 years old and is studying mental health at Al-Quds Open University in Gaza City. She aspires to become a psychologist.

Somaia comes from a loving, harmonious family that lived in a sixth-floor apartment in Al-Nasser, Gaza City. Her family, including her parents, two brothers and a sister, mean the world to her. Before the war, she enjoyed her life, attending university, spending time with friends, and finding contentment in her daily routine.

When the war in Gaza started, Somaia’s family, like many others, chose to stay in their home. The war brought massive hardship, especially in their neighborhood, which is particularly perilous. They eventually had to move away from their home to safer areas nearby as the danger grew closer. Most of the time, they heard the sounds of indiscriminate bombing. When Israeli occupation tanks neared the Al-Nasser area, they had to evacuate the house for a month to avoid the threat of death.

On Nov. 23, 2023, a four-day humanitarian truce was agreed upon, allowing Somaia and her family to return home. They brought essential supplies and experienced moments of peace together. The truce was extended and they were relieved.

On Dec. 2, just a day after the truce ended, a quadcopter opened fire at their building and then surrounded them. The family heard a series of explosions and tried to evacuate the building, but they quickly realized they were completely trapped. In desperation, they descended to the fourth floor.

That night, they returned home to the sixth floor to rest, feeling a sense of calm despite the noise of tanks passing by. Somaia slept beside her mother, brothers and sister near their front door, because they believed it to be the safest spot in their home, while her father, who had the flu, slept away from them in the living room.

At 11:30 pm, the Israelis launched a missile at the house without any warning.

Somaia woke up in darkness, confused and unable to see. She called out to her mother, struggled to rise, then reached for her 5-year-old brother Mohammed. He was barely alive, and she held him close, weeping. Mohammed passed away that night.

She screamed for help, but no one could reach them. Tragically, she lost her 14-year-old sister Tala, who had aspired to be a pharmacist, and her 19-year-old brother Sa’ad, who was in his first year at university and passionate about photography. Her father fell from the sixth floor to the first, while she and her mother were left injured on the sixth floor.

Around 6 a.m., people came to help. They picked up Somaia’s father. However, as they reached the sixth floor, another Israeli quadcopter started firing heavily. They placed Somaia on a mattress; her leg was almost severed from the knee, and the other leg had shrapnel embedded in it. The rescuers assured Somaia that an ambulance would be sent for her, but she later discovered that the Israelis had bombed the ambulance that had tried to reach her.

Somaia and her mother remained in their destroyed apartment and wished for death. Silence enveloped them as each became immersed in their own pain; they endured the agony in shared solitude.

After seven days without water or food, Somaia called out to her mother. There was no answer. When Somaia realized her mother was dead, her screams of despair filled the air, tears flowing down her face.

She knew the day but not the hour of her mother’s martyrdom. Later that night, Israeli aircraft returned and bombed the building with three more missiles landing in the gap created by the first. Somaia, on the right side of the building, witnessed it all. No longer afraid and completely numb, she longed for death to reunite her with her family.

She was thirsty and prayed for rain. Miraculously, it did in fact rain, and soon it rained so much that the mattress she was lying on was soaked. She squeezed the mattress into her cupped hand to slake her thirst.

She had been awake for nearly 12 days without understanding why. All she craved was sleep, so she resolved to summon her strength and return to the mattress that she had left the day before. She was weary of sitting on the stones left behind by destruction. Her right leg hung awkwardly from the knee. Her other leg was still bleeding. She tied it with a sock, and although it continued to bleed, the flow was less severe.

After five more days, Somaia was thirsty again and began screaming for water. There were tanks under the building. An Israeli soldier emerged and asked through a microphone, “Who screams for water?” Terrified, she didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed a nearby bottle of medicine, unsure of what it was, but desperate for anything to quench her thirst.

She felt the presence of death everywhere; it could be lurking behind the window or at the doorstep. For all this time, she had been alone near her mother’s dead body, without food or water. Yet, by some miracle, she remained alive.

The tanks withdrew 21 days after the siege. Neighbors came to her rescue, and as they began to carry her away, the Israeli quadcopter started firing. Somaia told the rescuers to leave her, but they refused, saying there was no way they could abandon her after everything she had endured. Once the quadcopter had left, the neighbors managed to carry her on a mattress, but it was very difficult to get past the destroyed stairs. She finally made it out and went to the hospital, where she was reunited with her injured father.

Both received treatment. Somaia underwent six surgical procedures on both legs. This included the placement of an external platinum implant on the right foot, followed by an internal platinum fixation on the thigh and leg. She also had cosmetic surgery on the left foot to enhance its aesthetic appearance.

All this I learned from Somaia, who recounted her three-week ordeal with remarkable composure. When she finished, I asked her, “Does life still have meaning?” She told me that she didn’t feel the importance of life after losing her family, that the loss of her family left a great darkness.

This article is co-published with Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.