According to the Washington Post, an analysis of satellite data, recordings, and interviews with weapons specialists raises the possibility that the girl, her relatives, and two rescuers were slain earlier this year by invading soldiers, undermining Israel’s previous narrative.
Contrary to what the Israeli military maintains, the Washington Post’s research has found that Israeli armoured vehicles were in the area on January 29, when a car carrying 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab and her family was targeted in Gaza City.
The terrifying investigation describes the child’s last hours as Israeli tanks closed in on her as she pleaded to be saved. The Post deduced that Israeli armoured vehicles were in the region in the afternoon and that gunfire was audible while Hind and her cousin repeatedly pleaded for aid based on a review of satellite imagery, recordings, photos, videos, and interviews.
It said, citing six munitions specialists, that the damage inflicted on an ambulance carrying paramedics attempting to save them was consistent with the use of a round fired by Israeli tanks.
The Washington Post was informed by the Israeli army that they were “not present near the vehicle or within the firing range” of the car belonging to the Rajab family.
When questioned about the allegation, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller claimed that, in contrast to the conclusions of The Washington Post research, the Israeli army had informed them that none of their units were in the region.
“We would still welcome a full investigation into this matter and how it occurred in the first place,” Miller stated.
In line with Israeli weaponry
After being under Israeli army fire in Gaza City on January 29, Rajab became trapped in her family car and was discovered dead after over two weeks of uncertainty.
According to the Palestine Red Crescent, the girl was under Israeli fire while escaping Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza with her family, which included her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamadeh.
They shouted for assistance while surrounded by their relatives’ bodies, and a Red Crescent ambulance was sent over.
The humanitarian organization claims that Layan was shot and killed while on the phone with the Red Crescent crew and that shooting was audible in the background.
Hind answered the phone when the crew called again, presumably the lone survivor in the car. They lost all communication with her shortly after.
The audio recordings, which the Red Crescent made public in February, began with Hind’s adolescent cousin Hamadeh calling dispatchers to report that an Israeli tank was approaching. She cried as gunfire fired.
Hind, who was thought to be the sole survivor, spoke with dispatchers for three hours while they tried to calm her down and got ready to send an ambulance.
Another audio clip captured Hind sobbing fervently and saying, “Come and get me.” “I’m so scared, please come.”
The dispatchers dispatched an ambulance with two crew members, Youssef Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoon, after determining it was safe to approach the area.
Soon after, communication between Hind and the ambulance team was lost, raising concerns about their whereabouts among their relatives, coworkers, and people worldwide.
According to Hind’s uncle, Samir Hamada, who also arrived at the scene early that morning, when a Palestinian civil defense squad eventually made it to the region twelve days later, they discovered Hind’s body in a car full of gunshots.
Munitions experts estimate that the ambulance was destroyed by a round fired by Israeli tanks, and that it lay burned around 50 meters from the automobile.
Expert acoustic analyst Steven Beck, who has over ten years of expertise advising the FBI, examined a recording for The Post. He concluded that the rate of fire was higher than that of an automatic weapon modeled after the AK, which is frequently carried by Hamas resistance members.
Beck claimed that the shooting rate was more in line with the weapons that the Israeli military usually uses. According to an independent verification conducted by Earshot, the rate of fire was higher than that of a rifle modeled like an AK.
On February 12, when Anadolu questioned Miller about Rajab’s death, Miller indicated he was “devastated” by the “heartbreaking” nature of the child’s death and had demanded an immediate investigation into the situation.
Shell fragments from an American-made M830A1 projectile were discovered at the scene of the bombed Red Crescent ambulance, which was searching for the woman’s family, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor.
When asked if he could confirm the rumors of American-made weapons discovered at the scene, Miller responded he could not.
“Whether weapons are provided by the United States or that they have acquired through some other method or that they manufacture them themselves, it is our expectation that they use them in full compliance with the laws of war, and we engage with them on that matter,” he stated.
Miller stated that instead of the US carrying out an independent assessment, it had urged Israel to provide the results of its own probe.
“That’s what we’ll be going back to them to do with the new details that were raised by the Washington Post,” Miller stated.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
