Bodies of Gaza girl, ambulance team found after 12 days
Cairo, Egypt - A six-year-old girl who went missing in Gaza last month has been found dead, along with several of her relatives and two paramedics who had gone to save her.
Hind Rajab was fleeing the city with her aunt, uncle and three cousins when the car they were travelling came face to face with Israeli tanks, and were fired upon.
Audio recordings of calls between Hind and emergency call operators suggest that the sixyear-old was the only one left alive in the car, hiding from Israeli forces among the bodies of her relatives. Her pleas for someone to rescue her ended when the phone line was cut amid the sound of more gunfire.
Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance it sent to rescue Hind after she had spent hours on the phone with dispatchers begging for help with the sound of shooting echoing around.
PRCS has published a video showing the wreckage of the ambulance that was sent to rescue Hind 12 days ago. The two medics who were dispatched, Yusuf Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun, were also killed.
‘Hind tragically lost her life alone after pleading with our teams for hours in a terrified and desperate voice, ‘Come take me’,’ the PRCS said. ‘Rest in peace, Hind, and to the heroes of humanitarian work, Yusuf and Ahmed.’
Paramedics from PRCS managed on Saturday to reach the area, which had previously been closed off as an active combat zone. They found the black Kia car Hind had been travelling in - its windscreen and dashboard smashed to pieces, bullet holes scattered across the side.
‘The occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the site to rescue Hind,’ the Red Crescent said in a statement.