Palestinian Red Crescent announced today the sad news of the discovery of the bodies of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl and two rescuers in Gaza City. The two rescuers were sent nearly two weeks ago to find the girl who was believed to be trapped in a vehicle with six dead family members, allegedly killed by Israeli fire. According to a statement released by the Palestine Red Crescent, the ambulance that arrived to help Hind Rajab was bombed by Israeli forces just meters away from the trapped child. The Red Crescent reported that despite prior coordination with the Israeli military, the ambulance was bombed while trying to reach the scene. The Red Crescent’s spokeswoman stated that the family discovered the bodies and notified the aid group. Hind’s cause of death is still unknown. The ongoing Israeli military presence in the area hampered the search operations, preventing further assistance from reaching the scene.
The Red Crescent stated that the ongoing conflict has caused more than 27,000 casualties in the last four months, with health authorities in the territory reporting over 12,000 child deaths. Unicef also reported that more than 600,000 children and their families have been displaced to Rafah’s southern Gaza city. The conflict in Gaza began after Hamas staged a cross-border attack on Israel.
The Israeli military has not responded to the Red Crescent’s accusations. The situation remains to be independently verified. Two members of the ambulance team, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, were sent to rescue Hind after a Red Crescent dispatcher spent three hours trying to console her on the phone. Both rescuers were known to have arrived at the location around 6 p.m. on January 29, which was the last contact with them.
“Every day for the past 11 days they have endured the heart-wrenching uncertainty about the location of their loved ones. Their suffering makes us more determined to find out what happened. We must learn the truth,” said the Red Crescent’s final post on the case before their deaths were confirmed.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting.
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad contributed reporting.