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Killed Hind Rajab

Photo: AFP

Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl who came under Israeli fire in a car in Gaza with relatives and was hoping to be rescued there, is apparently dead. This is reported by the Reuters news agency and the US television channel CNN, citing local sources.

"The child and all the occupants of the car were found dead near the Fares gas station in the suburb of Tel al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City," CNN quoted one of its employees, Khader Al Za'anoun, as saying. The Palestinian journalist spoke to the girl's grandfather.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the bodies were recovered from a shot-up car.

In this regard, the Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed the deaths of two medics, Youssef Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoon. The organization accuses Israel of targeting the ambulance that was sent to evacuate the girl after she spent hours on the phone pleading for help.

"The occupiers deliberately attacked the ambulance crew, despite prior coordination, to allow the ambulance to reach the scene and save the girl," said a statement from the Palestinian Red Crescent. The information cannot currently be independently verified.

»Come and get me! I'm so afraid"

Hind Rajab, whose age is variously given as five or six years old, is said to have set out to flee northern Gaza on January 29 with her uncle, his wife and their four children. They are said to have come under Israeli fire.

First, Hind's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh, called emergency services and asked for help. The conversation can be heard on an audio recording from the Palestinian Red Crescent.

»They're shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We're in the car, the tank is right next to us," a girl's voice shouts in it, before suddenly falling silent after a volley of shots. Then the fire stops. According to the recording, EMS tries to continue speaking to her, but there is no response. Layan Hamadeh is said to have been killed during the call.

Since then, Hind Rajab was considered the only survivor. She stayed in touch with dispatchers for three hours afterward, trying to calm her down as they prepared to send an ambulance. On the recording you can hear Rajab crying and screaming: “Come and get me. I’m so scared, please come.”

After determining it was safe to approach the area, dispatchers dispatched an ambulance with two crew members. Contact with the rescue team and the girl was lost soon afterwards. Her fate has been unclear ever since.

Löw/Reuters