Six-year-old Hind Rajab has been found dead along with the two ambulance workers who went out to save her in Gaza City almost two weeks ago.
The Palestinian Red Crescent has released this photo of Hind Rajab. Photo: PALESTINE RED CRESCENT SOCIETY/FAMILY / Reuters / NTBPublished: Published:
Less than 20 minutes ago
– I am so scared. Please call someone who can come and get me, the six-year-old pleaded in a desperate phone call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
The last time anyone heard from Hind was when she sat surrounded by slain family members in a car in Gaza City.
“For over three hours, Hind desperately begged to be saved from the tanks that surrounded her, the continuous shooting and the horror of being alone, trapped among the bodies of family members who were shot by Israeli forces before her eyes,” says the PRCS.
An Israeli tank takes up position as Palestinians flee the ground and air offensive against Khan Younis in southern Gaza on January 29. Photo: Fatima Shbair / AP / NTB
– Targeted
The Red Crescent says it sent an ambulance to rescue her after spending several hours coordinating with the Israeli army to gain access to the area.
On Saturday, Hind was found dead together with his family members and the two ambulance workers Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, the organization says.
– The occupier targeted Røde Halvmåne’s crew even though there was coordination in advance so that the ambulance could reach the scene and rescue Hind, says PRCS in a statement Saturday.
Thousands of children have been killed and many more injured in the Gaza war. Here, a Palestinian mourns at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis by the body of a child who was killed in Israeli attacks on 22 January. Photo: Mohammed Dahman / AP / NTB
Kia with bullet holes
The Israeli army had no comment on the case when they were contacted again on Saturday by the news agencies AFP and AP. Red Crescent has published a photo of the ambulance, which is almost completely burnt out.
Al Jazeera images from the scene apparently show the ambulance just steps away from the car they say the family was in – a black Kia Picanto riddled with bullet holes.
Hind’s fate has received great international attention during a war that claimed over 10,000 children’s lives in the first 100 days. An alarmingly high number of children are still being killed, warns the UN children’s fund Unicef. Many more are injured and others are in danger of dying due to a lack of food, water and medicine.
Israeli tank
Hind was with her uncle Bashar, aunt and four cousins when they fled as Israeli ground forces moved into the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood on 29 January.
According to Hind’s grandfather Baha Hamada, their car was stopped by an Israeli tank which opened fire on them.
– She was scared, terrified, and she was injured in the back, hand and foot, Hamada said, one of the last to speak to the little girl on the phone.
58-year-old Hamada first contacted Bashar’s 15-year-old daughter Layan, who told her that her parents and three brothers had been killed in the attack on the car, while she and Hind were alive.
Call disconnected
– We tried to calm her down and said we would call an ambulance, he says.
When rescuers from the Palestine Red Crescent contacted Layan by phone, the call was cut off as they heard gunfire.
While the ambulance was on its way there, Hind’s mother Wissam Hamada got in touch with the six-year-old by phone. The girl said that Layan had been killed and that she could see the ambulance.
Rana, who operated the aid organisation’s emergency telephone, tells BBC that she asked if the tanks were near.
– Very, replied Hind.
– Can you come and get me, I’m so scared, she said.
No comment from the IDF
Since then no one heard from either Hind or the two men from Red Crescent.
Hind’s mother blames Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden and “all those who conspire against Gaza” for her daughter’s death.
A number of international media have asked the Israeli army IDF for information about the incident. To BBC The IDF said it was investigating the matter.
Shortly after the event gave CNN the Israeli army the coordinates of the place where the car was attacked, but was told that they were not aware of the incident.
When CNN pressed a few days later, the response was that the Army was still investigating.
Red Cross in mourning
The Red Cross is in deep mourning after the missing ambulance workers and the little girl were found dead, the Norwegian Red Cross says in a statement.
– We send our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of those killed, says general secretary Anne Bergh.
Since the war started on 7 October, 17 colleagues from the Red Cross movement have been killed in attacks, 14 from the Palestine Red Crescent and three from Magen David Adom in Israel.
Over 28,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the health authorities. Half of the estimated 1.7 million Palestinians who have been displaced by the war are children.
Published:
Published: February 10, 2024 6:38 p.m
2024-02-10 17:38:01
#Missing #sixyearold #dead #Gaza
