'Crime in every sense': Gaza apartment building residents recount Israel's bombing

Several of the Palestinian residents in the Palestine Tower, a residential and office building in central Gaza that was hit during one of the first Israeli air strikes on Friday, spoke to Middle East Eye about the bombing.

Khalil Kanon, who lives on the 12th floor, told MEE that the bombing left his wife and mother injured, his children in fear, and his entire family stained with blood.

Following the attack, Kanon's neighbour rushed to help, and took his children and wife out of the building while Kanon awaited paramedics to assist in removing her mother from the building.

'We are civilians. Why did they bomb us?'

- Ziyad Mezher

"All of us were stained with blood. Look, there is a blood stain on my t-shirt."

Ahmed al-Bata, a journalist, was waiting for the lift to go up to the 14th floor of the Palestine Tower - where his office is located - before the building was bombed.

"The scene was unbelievable. After some minutes, tens of residents started fleeing while shouting. Almost all of them were children and women. Tens of them were injured. The scene was so horrible. It's a crime in every sense of the word."

Um Osama Mahdi, 66, who lives on the 4th floor, was all alone when the bombardment started.

"The air was full of dust. I couldn't see anything," she said, adding that she began reciting the Islamic testimony of faith.

"I stayed in the same position for 5 minutes until my husband came and got me out of the building. My neighbour and his children were bleeding."

Ziyad Mezher, an expert in disaster risk management, said that he was preparing for a family gathering when Israel bombed the apartment building.

"I was laying on my bed. Suddenly my wife, my daughter and I found ourselves flying and falling on the ground. I crawled. We fled the place. All things were destroyed."

"Blood was everywhere," he said. "We are civilians. Why did they bomb us?"