IDF forces not present when 6-year-old Gaza girl was killed, probe suggests

The Palestine Red Crescent Society blamed Israel and alleged the IDF deliberately killed Rajab’s family and the first responders. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A probe into the case of a 6-year-old girl in Gaza who was killed along with five family members and two medics who had arrived to rescue her indicated that the IDF was not operating in the area and was not implicated in the deaths of the family.

The 6-year-old named Hind Rajab became a symbol of civilian casualties in Gaza after she spent hours on the phone with emergency workers begging to be rescued before being killed.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has blamed Israel and alleged that the IDF deliberately killed Rajab’s family and the first responders.

Hind’s surviving uncle, Sameeh Hamadeh said that the girl’s body along with those of her uncle, aunt, and their three children were found in a car riddled with bullet holes in a suburb of Gaza City.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was “devastated” by the news of the little girl allegedly killed by the IDF after begging first responders in Gaza for help and demanded that the case be investigated immediately.

After a preliminary investigation, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit told The Times of Israel that “from a preliminary investigation that was conducted, it appears that IDF troops were not present near the vehicle or within firing range of the described vehicle in which the girl was found.”

The unit continued, “Also, given the lack of forces in the area, there was no need for individual coordination of the movement of the ambulance or another vehicle to pick up the girl.”

“Every day, dozens of ambulances move without individual coordination throughout the Strip, and as long as there are no forces in the area, the movement does not require coordination,” The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit concluded.

Following the preliminary investigation, the IDF said that the case had been handed over to General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism for further details on the incident.