The child Hind was martyred with members of her family by Israeli occupation bullets in Gaza (communication platforms)

An investigative investigation prepared by the Al Jazeera Media Network through open sources revealed that the Israeli occupation army deliberately assassinated the child Hind and the family of her uncle, Bashar Hamada, in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, west of Gaza City.

The investigation - prepared by the Sanad News Monitoring and Verification Agency - according to private satellite images and exclusive evidence and information, proved the presence of Israeli vehicles in the same place and time as the car in which the girl and the stricken family took shelter.

The investigation confirmed that the occupation soldiers deliberately shot the car several times from more than one direction at different times, after reviewing the timeline of events and what it included in the call of the child Layan Bashar in the recorded call with the Red Crescent, and the field photographs from which we identified the locations of the bullets on the car. The locations of the Israeli vehicles in the satellite image on the day of the incident.

The investigation proves that Israeli vehicles were present in the vicinity of the car next to it before the assassination of Layan and Hind, which means that the Israeli army had the ability to save the two girls, but it did not.

The beginning of events

An audio recording of the child Layan speaking to a Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic and asking to be rescued. Then the child screams, accompanied by the sound of heavy gunfire at her, then communication with her is cut off.

The news of the martyrdom of the child Layan and all of her family members and the survival of their relative, the child Hind, spread. Appeals spread to save Hind, which is what the Red Crescent worked on through coordination with the competent Palestinian authorities in communicating with the Israeli side, so that approval comes and an ambulance sets off with both (Youssef Zeno, and Ahmed Al-Madhoun) to reach the site of the event, after which contact with them and Hind was cut off forever.

After approximately 12 days, specifically on the morning of February 10, 2024, Bashar and his family, along with Hind, were found dead. The ambulance and the remains of the paramedics’ bodies were also found, and from here was the beginning of this investigation.

The first question was, where did the victims live before they were killed?

Why did they leave this place on this day?

By searching for the first victim, Bashar Hamada, we were able to access his account on the social networking site Facebook.

The account shows that Bashar, within his family, owns a company called “Hamada Gas and Petroleum Company.” By searching for the location of the gas station and the company, pictures of which were posted on his account, we found that the station is located in the Tal al-Hawa area in the Gaza Strip.

The surprise was that this station was located approximately 300 meters from the accident site at the Fars Petroleum Company station, a distance that took 3 minutes on foot by car of less than a minute.

Distance from the family’s place of residence to the site of the incident (Al Jazeera)

Searching for that area, we found that Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee had published on the morning of January 29, 2024, on the social networking site (X), an urgent appeal to the residents of several areas, including the Tal al-Hawa area, asking them to evacuate their areas.

#Urgent ‼️ A call to the residents west of Gaza City in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Sheikh Radwan, Al-Shati Camp, Northern and Southern Sands, Al-Sabra, Sheikh Ajlin and Tal Al-Hawa - for your safety, we urge you to evacuate your areas immediately and move through Al-Rashid (Al-Bahr) Street towards the known shelters in Deir Al-Balah. 🔴 pic.twitter.com/ABGOawNxzM

- Avichay Adraee (@AvichaiAdraee) January 29, 2024

Also, on February 5, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee re-published the evacuation order for several areas, including the Tal al-Hawa area.

#Urgent ‼️ A call to the residents west of Gaza City in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Sheikh Radwan, Al-Shati Camp, Northern and Southern Sands, Al-Sabra, Sheikh Ajlin and Tal Al-Hawa - for your safety, we urge you to evacuate your areas immediately and move through Al-Rashid (Al-Bahr) Street towards the known shelters in Deir Al-Balah.

🔴… pic.twitter.com/Jlpn6cFmNr

- Avichay Adraee (@AvichaiAdraee) February 5, 2024

The Sanad Agency team conducted an interview with the family relative, Muhammad Hamada, who was the first to inform the Palestinian Red Crescent of the incident and sent the phone number on which the Red Crescent contacted Layan and then Hind.

We asked Muhammad Hamada why the family was in this place?

And why did they move from their residence?

His answer was: “The family was residing in the Tal al-Hawa area, specifically at the Hamada gas station, several days before the incident, and after the Israeli army requested the evacuation of the area, the family carried out that.”

Thus, we learned the reason for the family’s presence at the site of the accident, and we confirmed from the page of the Israeli army spokesman that he had requested the evacuation of that area, and we knew the location of the victims’ launch and the location of their targeting.

Satellite images:

We obtained a satellite image dated January 29, taken at 3:31 minutes Gaza time, and from the image we were able to discover the location of the victims’ car and the location of the military vehicles that were approximately 270 meters away from the car at the time the image was taken.

Thus, we were able to locate the vehicle in front of the Fares Petroleum Company gas station:

A satellite image from February shows the wreckage of the ambulance about a meter away from the victims’ car (Al Jazeera)

We were also able to locate Israeli military vehicles approximately 278 meters away

The location of Bashar and his family’s car in front of the Fares Petroleum Company gas station (Al Jazeera)

Timeline of events

  • On January 29, between 2 and 2:30 p.m., Gaza time

Mr. Mohamed Hamada informed the Red Crescent of the presence of his relatives in a black Picanto car next to Fares station, and sent a number to the victims so that the Red Crescent could contact them, mentioning that the car contained 5 martyrs and two girls who were still alive.

  • At 2:40, communication with Layan, according to the testimony of Red Crescent employee Rana

Paramedic Omar called the number for the child, Layan, to answer it, informing the paramedic that there was a tank next to them and that it was shooting at them. After a few seconds, the sound of heavy gunfire was heard along with Layan’s screams as a result of bullet wounds and the loss of communication with her.

The Red Crescent contacted them again, and Hind responded to them instead of Layan. The Red Crescent then informed their relative, Muhammad Hamada, via WhatsApp messages, that Layan had been martyred and that the little girl had survived.

  • At 2:57, a new call from Red Crescent employee Rana to Hind

Hind tells them that everyone has been killed and that she is afraid and asks them to come to rescue her, and that there are tanks next to the car

  • At 5:40, the Red Crescent receives permission from the Israeli army to send an ambulance to rescue Hind

At approximately 6 p.m., paramedics Youssef Zaino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun arrived at the accident area. Meanwhile, Hind was in contact with her mother and the Red Crescent employees, who were divided into two teams, a team following up with the child Hind and a team following up with the ambulance.

Moments later, he informs the ambulance team that he saw the victims' car and Hind, then he hears the sound of gunfire and communication with the ambulance is cut off.

Hind's mother is terrified and checks on her daughter, and her daughter tells her that she is still fine. After that, contact with Hind is cut off forever.

  • Morning of February 10, 2024

Professor Samir, the uncle of the victims, and others found the car with the bodies of the seven victims inside. They also found what remained of the ambulance with the skeletal remains of the paramedics inside.

Crime scene analysis:

By determining the location of the bullets in the car, it is possible to determine 3 angles for the direction of the bullets, which are from the front of the car, from the right side of the car, and from an oblique angle from the right side of the car from behind.

Source: Al Jazeera