Israeli tank fired at Hind Rajab family car from meters away: Investigation | Israel-Palestine conflict news

The six-year-old girl remained alive for hours among the bodies of her relatives killed after being attacked by Israeli troops.

An Israeli tank fired from close range at the family car of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, and a tank shell directly hit the ambulance that was sent to help, according to an investigation.

The murder of the child and her family in Gaza City at the end of January drew international condemnation.

Rajab, who survived the initial shooting, begged for help as he bled among the bodies of his dead relatives while on the phone with paramedics and his mother for three hours.

In a documentary about the deaths of civilians in the war in Gaza, Al Jazeera TV Fault lines provided a detailed reconstruction of the incident, compiled in collaboration with nonprofit investigative groups Forensic Architecture and Earshot.

The investigation revealed that the Israeli tank was probably just 13 to 23 meters (42 to 75 feet) away when it opened fire on Rajab and his relatives in the car.

Through interviews with family members, Palestinian Civil Defense workers and medical staff, the documentary provides the most comprehensive video account of the incident to date.

It also reconstructs for the first time the likely position of the Israeli tank when it fired at the car, as well as the likely trajectory of the tank projectile that hit the ambulance with a direct hit when it came to rescuing Rajab.

The Israeli military refused to answer Al Jazeera’s questions about the details of the incident. However, the new evidence further refutes the Israeli military’s previous claims that its forces were not present in the area.

The ambulance sent to help Rajab was attacked after receiving approval from Israeli authorities, complete with map and approved route.

Two paramedics, Yousef Zeino and Ahmad al-Madhoun, were killed in the ambulance attack.

“I will never meet heroes like them again, the kind who know they will die and still leave,” said Omar al-Qam, a dispatcher for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), who was on the phone with Rajab and her. cousin, who was killed in an Israeli fire while begging for help.

‘Hardest feeling’

It took 12 days for Palestinian paramedics and Rajab’s family to reach the site of the attack in Gaza City, in the northern part of the enclave.

Rajab’s mother, Wissam Hamada, said the child’s voice became weaker towards the end of the call.

Hamada said Rajab told her she couldn’t speak because her mouth was bleeding, but she didn’t want to clean it so her mother wouldn’t have trouble cleaning it.

“I told her, ‘Okay, wipe your mouth and I’ll wash it, my dear.’ She agreed. She wiped it with her sleeve and her voice disappeared. It was exactly 7pm. The voice has completely disappeared,” Hamada said. Fault lines.

“It’s the hardest feeling in the world to hear my daughter ask me to pick her up when I can’t reach her. My dear, I swear, I couldn’t talk to you. Forgive me, dear.

Rajab’s death caused global condemnation, including in the United States, which has supported Israel’s war in Gaza.

One of two active US airmen seeking to abandon military service and become conscientious objectors to Washington’s support for Israel’s war said Rajab’s assassination marked a turning point for him.

Fault lines it also followed other Palestinian families as they recounted horrific experiences and their fight for survival amid Israel’s relentless war.

Watch the film: ‘The night will not end’: Biden’s war in Gaza