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Recounting Hind Rajab’s Horror Before Her Brutal Murder By The Zionists

Khadijah Ali

Rajab 12, 14472026-01-01

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Of all the crimes perpetrated by the zionist terrorists in Gaza—and there are many—nothing comes close to what the six-year-old Hind Rajab experienced on January 29, 2024. She was murdered execution-style after experiencing agonizing hours of absolute terror at the hands of the genocidal zionists.

Her story needs to be told again and again in order for people not to forget the zionists’ evil nature. Hind along with six members of her family was fleeing north in her uncle’s car from the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City. All residents had been ordered by the Israeli army to vacate the area.

Soon after the family left in the black Kia Picanto heading north, an Israeli military spokesperson posted an evacuation order on social media, telling residents of west Gaza City, including the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, to move south. Satellite imagery showed that the Hamadeh family could not go south because their path was blocked by debris from fallen buildings.

Their black Kia was shot by an Israeli army tank killing Hind’s aunt, uncle, and four cousins. Hind and her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamadeh survived the initial Israeli attack.

Layan called the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) on her cell phone for emergency help. Scared and crying, she told the PRCS dispatcher “They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me. We’re in the car, the tank is right next to us.” While she was on the line, sound of machine gun fire was heard amid Layan’s screams. Several bullets pierced her body killing her.

When the dispatchers called back, Hind answered the phone, stating that everyone else in the car was dead and that the tank continued to approach the car. She stayed on the line with the PRCS dispatcher for three hours. She kept pleading with the dispatcher, “I’m so scared, please come. Come take me. Please, will you come?”

Imagine what that poor little child sitting amid her dead relatives must have gone through during those terrifying hours. She was told to continue hiding in the vehicle as a PRCS ambulance was being dispatched to fetch her.

Since the area was besieged by the Israeli army, the PRCS had to work with the Gaza Health Ministry through the Israeli military to guarantee safe passage for the ambulance crew to reach the little girl. After hours of waiting, the PRCS was given permission to send the ambulance along a designated route.

The two-member ambulance crew reported that they were being targeted by the Israeli military with laser lights.

After sounds of gunfire or an explosion, the connection with Hind was lost. The audio of the phone call between the PRCS, Layan and Hind was published by the Red Crescent Society on February 3, 2024.

For 12 days, the fate of Hind and the paramedics was unknown. It was on February 10, 2024 that the Hamadeh family was able to get to the area after the Israeli military withdrew. What they discovered was heart-wrenching: the car with Layan, Hind and the rest of her uncle’s entire family had been brutally murdered.

There were 335 bullet marks on the car whose windshield and dashboard were smashed. Her grandfather later told reporters that Hind was hit with bullets in the back, hand and foot.

According to an initial investigation from the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Hind and her relatives were killed by the Israeli army in a “planned execution”. A US-made missile was fired to strike the PRCS ambulance that also killed the paramedics sent to rescue the young child.

Shell fragments of an American-made M830A1 projectile were found at the site of the completely destroyed Red Crescent ambulance. When asked about the attack on the Kia car and the PRCS ambulance, the Israeli army said it had no knowledge of it.

True to their lying nature, the zionists said their forces were not in the area. If so, how is it that Hind’s family was unable to reach the car for 12 days? Who blocked their path?

Damage to the car was documented by journalists on the ground following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area. The shape of the depression of the windshield suggested that it was run over by heavy equipment such as a bulldozer or a tank.

In April 2024, The Washington Post carried out its own investigation that countered claims made by the Israeli military. The investigation, using satellite imagery, concluded that Israeli armored vehicles were indeed in the vicinity of the car where Hind was murdered, and the 300mm hole on the Red Crescent ambulance was consistent with an Israeli tank round.

The Post confirmed that the wreckage of the ambulance was found on a route provided by COGAT, an arm of the Israeli defense ministry that coordinates with the Israeli army travel routes for medical vehicles.

The bodies of two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics— Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun—missing since the evening of the call when they were dispatched to rescue Hind, were discovered in their ambulance about 50 metres away.

In July 2024, independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council said that Hind Rajab’s killing might amount to a war crime.

Belgian activists launched the Hind Rajab Foundation as the legal arm of their existing group. The lawyers are working to bring the perpetrators to justice.

On the foundation’s official social media, they wrote “We refuse to let Hind’s story be forgotten or dismissed. Her story is that of all the victims of this genocide.”

Hind Rajab’s story should never be forgotten. Her murderers must be brought to justice, no matter how long it takes. A documentary film has been made about her ordeal that recounts the last hours of this child before her brutal death. It is a gripping film.

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