Gaza girl Hind Rajab, 6, found dead with relatives’ and rescuers’ bodies 12 days after her plea for help

The little girl pleaded for three hours to be rescued after her family’s car came under Israeli fire, leaving her frightened, injured and surrounded by bodies

Half of the estimated 1.7 million people displaced in Gaza are children. Aid agencies say they are bearing the brunt of Israel’s war with Hamas

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Palestinian girl Hind Rajab had been in a car with family members on January 29 as they attempted to flee from approaching Israeli forces in Gaza City, but they ended up in the path of tanks and were fired on. Photo: Handout via AFP

Published: 8:31pm, 10 Feb 2024Updated: 11:04pm, 10 Feb 2024

Six-year-old Hind Rajab pleaded to be rescued, after her family’s car came under fire in war-ravaged Gaza City, leaving her frightened and injured, and surrounded by the bodies of five of her dead relatives.

“I am so scared,” she had said in a desperate phone call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). “Call someone to come get me, please.”

But after days of frantic efforts to reach her, Hind’s body was recovered on Saturday, alongside her relatives and two PRCS rescuers sent to find her.

The aid agency and the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip confirmed the grim discovery, and blamed Israeli forces.

Family members found Hind’s body along with those of her uncle and aunt and their three children still in a car in the Tel al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Hind Rajab, who was six when she died in Gaza. Photo: Handout via AFP

The plight of Hind, revealed in harrowing audio clips of her terrified conversation with rescuers 12 days ago, underlined the impossible conditions for civilians in the face of Israel’s four-month assault on Gaza.