[Blog] The story of Hind Rajab

Just imagine that you have a little daughter. Imagine that she has gone out with relatives. Imagine that soon after she is desperately calling to come and save her. Then there is utter silence.

How deeply anguished would you be. How mentally tortured would you be? How much worried and agitated would you be? The feelings are simply indescribable. This is how the parents of Hind Rajab felt on 29 January 2024.

Hind Rajab was a six-year-old girl living in Gaza. She did not go to school that day because, like the other 162 schools serving some 175,000 children, hers was razed to the ground by the Israeli army. So, dressed in pink like a princess, she joined her uncle, aunt and three other cousins for a small tour to Gaza city, decreed as a so-called "safe zone", in a black Kia car. 

Not long after, they saw an Israeli tank armed with the latest American shells down the road. Without realizing what was happening, Hind and her cousin Layan , trembling with fear, closed their eyes and bent their heads in the car. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves surrounded with blood and dead bodies. 

Hind was bleeding too with wounds from her back and feet. Her cousin, the 15 year old Layan grabbed the mobile from the lifeless hands of her father and phoned the Red Crescent Society, begging them to come and rescue them. "They are shooting at us. The tank is right next to me", she screamed. Then there was sound of gunfire and the line went dead. When the Red Crescent called back, it was Hind who answered. She informed them that all in the car had been killed, including Layan. For three hours she remained on the line, crying and pleading "come and save me. I am scared". While the Red Crescent was trying to negotiate a safe passage for its ambulance with the Israeli army and informed them of the plight of the child, its staff tried to encourage Hind to hold on by reciting verses of the Quran.  

At 6 in the evening, it was getting dark and Hind' s fear and agony increased. She, nevertheless, was able to give her whereabouts- near a petrol station at Telal Hawa. When the ambulance managed to secure a safe passage, it left for the given address with two paramedics. When the ambulance finally reached the spot, the paramedics reported to their headquarters that the Israeli soldiers were targeting them by pointing their lasers on them. Sounds of explosion were then heard and the line went dead. The line of Hind went dead too with these last words "Come and get me".

A frantic search for Hind began. Twelve days later, the Israeli army left the area. Hind's parents were able to enter Telal Hawa. What they discovered was beyond the scene of a horror movie: the decomposed body of Hind and the bodies of her uncle, aunt and cousins. The Israeli army had left the decomposed bodies in the car and departed. This massacre took place only three days after the International Court of Justice had ordered Israel to refrain from committing genocidal acts, to protect civilians and to stop killing children. 
The murder of Hind, horrifying as it is, is but one among that of some 14, 000 children killed by Israel under the eyes of the whole world. 

Azize Bankur 

Source: CounterPunch