The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says the body of a six-year-old girl who had begged Gaza rescuers to send help after being trapped by Israeli fire has been recovered – alongside five family members and two ambulance workers who went to save her.
The PRCS accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance sent to rescue Hind Rajab after she spent hours on the phone to dispatchers begging for help – with the sound of shooting echoing in the background – around 12 days ago.
After deciding it was safe to approach the area, the dispatchers sent an ambulance with two crew members, who were named Youssef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoon.
“The occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the site to rescue Hind,” the Red Crescent said in a statement.
Contact was then lost with both the ambulance team and Hind.
The PRCS later released audio of the phone call made by Hind to the authorities.
The area was deemed unsafe for the 12 days following, the PRCS said, adding rescuers have now recovered the bodies from the scene.
The Israel Defence Forces told Sky News it was looking into the incident.
Netanyahu orders evacuation of Rafah
As we’ve been reporting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to develop a dual plan to evacuate civilians from the city – the last neighbourhood where Gazans have found refuge – and to defeat the remaining Hamas battalions.
“It is impossible to achieve the war objective of eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah,” his office said in a statement.
“On the other hand, it is clear that a massive operation in Rafah requires the evacuation of the civilian population from the combat zones.
“That is why the prime minister directed the IDF and the defence establishment to bring to the cabinet a dual plan for both the evacuation of the population and the disbanding of the battalions.”
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