12,300 children have died since the outbreak of war on October 7, according to data from the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza.
One of them, whose fate has been rewritten many times over, is six-year-old Hind Rajab. The girl was given the last seat in her uncle’s car when the family tried to escape Israeli advances in Gaza City about two weeks ago.
“Hind asks for help”
After an hour and a half’s drive, Hind’s fifteen-year-old cousin Layan calls the rescue service in Gaza, SVT’s Middle East correspondent Stina Blomgren tells Morgonstudion.
– She says that everyone in the car, except her and the six-year-old girl, is dead. Then the conversation falls silent.
The emergency services call again.
– Then you get in touch with Hind who asks for help.
Hear the conversation in the video above
Contact with the healthcare providers is broken
After that, the rescue service in Gaza tries to get permission to start a rescue operation and Hind’s mother is brought into the conversation to calm the girl down.
The ambulance finally gets the go-ahead, but contact with the paramedics is cut off after a shooting. Then it gets quiet.
Only twelve days later, on Saturday, Hind’s family can get to the battle zone where the car is.
– Everyone in the car is dead and the car is full of bullet holes. The ambulance is also completely burnt out and the two paramedics have also been killed, says Stina Blomberg.
Took almost three hours
The Washington Post has charted what happened after the conversation with Hind.
– According to the newspaper, it took almost three hours to get permission to send an ambulance. It drives very slowly to the location and stops for a security check. Then the call is disconnected.
Israel has said it will investigate the incident but has made no further comment.