Gaza Herald — Hind Rajab’s grandmother has rejected Israel’s newly announced criminal investigation into the killing of the five-year-old Palestinian girl and her family, saying the family has no trust in the Israeli justice system and does not believe the investigation represents a genuine path to justice.
The grandmother said Hind was inside a family car with relatives and other children when Israeli forces opened fire on the vehicle. She maintained that the family believes they were deliberately targeted and described the killing as an intentional execution.
She said Israel’s attacks have shown no distinction between children and adults, noting that schools and hospitals have also been targeted. She called on countries that advocate for human rights and the protection of children to stand with Palestinians in Gaza and work to end the war.
A child who dreamed of becoming a doctor
Hind’s grandmother recalled a little girl who loved life and had dreams far beyond the devastation surrounding her.
Hind loved drawing and horseback riding and dreamed of becoming a doctor. Instead, her life was cut short at the age of five, becoming one of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza who have been killed during the war.
Her family says the tragedy not only took Hind’s life, but it also erased the future she had imagined for herself.
Her brother still holds her toy
Hind’s brother, Eyad, survived the attack but lost the rest of his immediate family.
According to their grandmother, Eyad continues to struggle with the loss. He often sits on Hind’s bed, holding her toy and wishing that his sister were still beside him so they could play together and grow up together.
The family says her absence remains painfully present in their daily lives.
Doubts over Israel’s investigation
The Hind Rajab Foundation has also questioned the credibility of Israel’s decision to open criminal investigations into the deaths of Hind, six members of her family, as well as Palestinian paramedics and rescuers who were killed while attempting to reach her.
The foundation said it does not believe the investigation can provide genuine accountability, pointing to Israel’s previous denial that its forces were operating near the location where Hind was killed.
A foundation spokesperson said the investigation was unlikely to lead to meaningful accountability and argued that its opening came amid mounting international pressure over the large number of alleged violations committed by Israeli forces in Gaza.
A desperate call for rescue
Hind was found dead inside the family vehicle in Gaza City 12 days after her final call for help on January 29, 2024.
During the hours-long call, the five-year-old pleaded for someone to rescue her after the vehicle carrying her and members of her family came under heavy gunfire while they were attempting to flee Gaza City amid Israel’s military advance in northern Gaza.
The vehicle was later found riddled with bullets, with Hind’s body inside alongside the bodies of six relatives.
Two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who had been dispatched to rescue her were also killed.
Israeli authorities initially denied that their forces were present near the scene. The later announcement of criminal investigations has failed to convince Hind’s family that genuine justice will follow.
For her grandmother, no investigation can change what was taken from Hind: a childhood filled with drawings, horses and dreams of becoming a doctor, and a future she never had the chance to live.
