On 29 January 2024, a six-year-old Palestinian child in Gaza City, Hind Rajab, pleaded over the phone for emergency workers to rescue her from a car riddled with bullets. Her body was found two weeks later, on 10 February, alongside the bodies of six of her family members in the car they drove to flee their neighbourhood as Israeli forces invaded. The bodies of two Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics, missing since the evening of the call when they were dispatched to rescue Hind, were discovered in their ambulance about 50 metres away.
Working closely with journalists from Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines, Forensic Architecture collaborated with Earshot to examine the circumstances surrounding the killing of Hind Rajab, her four cousins, her aunt and uncle, and the two paramedics who came to her rescue.
Our investigation sought to answer the following questions: Where were the Israeli military vehicles located the day that Hind’s car was attacked? From what position and proximity was Hind’s 15-year-old cousin Layan killed after being connected by phone to Palestine Red Crescent dispatchers? Would it have been possible for the shooter to see Layan before killing her? What type of munition was used? From what position and direction was the ambulance shot? Could answers to these questions help us to identify the perpetrators of the shootings?
Read the full report by Forensic Architecture here.