In Rafah, baby Tala's survival was a miracle. Her death 18 days later was a nightmare.

In a heartbreaking moment of hope, baby Tala was reunited with her father after a strike killed their family. Her death 18 days later is a crushing loss to her father.

TEL AVIV — It was a moment of elation amid tragedy in December as baby Tala Rouqa was pulled from the rubble, unconscious but miraculously alive, after an airstrike crushed the home in Rafah where she and her family had hoped to find refuge from Israeli bombardment.

“She’s alive!” rescuers cheered, as a neighbor bundled her in his arms and raced her to the nearby hospital, in a scene captured by NBC News’ crew on the ground.

Her mother’s limp hand could be seen nearby in the rubble — perhaps reaching out toward, perhaps slipping from, her daughter. The mother was killed in the strike, along with at least 20 people, according to Palestinian health officials.

Tala’s sister Toleen, her brother, Youssef, her grandmother and several other relatives were among those killed.

For Tala’s father, Ahmad Rouqa, who was seriously injured but survived the Dec. 28 attack, her rescue was a “glimmer of hope.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/rafah-baby-talas-survival-miracle-death-nightmare-rcna134853

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