From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 12, 2024
US ‘devastated’ by alleged IDF killing of 6-year-old Gazan, urges probe
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller says the US is “devastated” by the reports of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in an Israeli strike last week.
“We have asked the Israeli authorities to investigate this incident on an urgent basis. We understand that they are doing so, and we expect to see those results in a timely fashion. They should include accountability measures as appropriate,” Miller says.
The IDF says it has launched an initial examination into the matter, but does not provide additional information.
On Saturday, relatives found the body of Hind Rajab, who had begged Gaza rescuers to send help after being trapped by alleged Israeli military fire, along with the bodies of five of her family members and two ambulance workers who had gone to save her.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society accused Israel of deliberately targeting the ambulance it sent to rescue Hind Rajab, after she had spent hours on the phone with dispatchers begging for help with the sound of shooting echoing around.
Family members found Hind’s body along with those of her uncle and aunt and their three children still in a car near a roundabout in the Tel al-Hawa suburb of Gaza City, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
Another of Hind’s uncles, Sameeh Hamadeh, said the car was peppered with bullet holes.
During the course of the war, the Israeli military has maintained that it makes many efforts to avoid civilian casualties, but that some are unavoidable, as it fights against terrorists who are embedded within the civilian population and use civilians as human shields.
