‘Voice of Hind Rajab,’ documentary about Gazan girl’s last moments, is nominated for Oscar

In addition to the two Israeli movies linked to the Gaza war that have been nominated for the Oscars, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a Tunisian docu-drama about a 5-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year, has been nominated for Best International Feature.

The film, by Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, tells the story of Hind Rajab Hamada, who was fleeing in Gaza City with six relatives last year when their car came under fire.

It dramatizes the effort by Palestinian Red Crescent dispatchers in the central West Bank to send Rajab assistance within Gaza, using real audio from the girl’s phone call, in which she — surrounded by dead family members — pleads for help.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has accused Israel of deliberately targeting an ambulance it sent to rescue Rajab.

Israel has rejected that claim, saying a probe found there were no Israeli troops present in the vicinity of the vehicle where Rajab’s body was found, nor was there a need for specific coordination of the ambulance to pick her up.

A Washington Post report published after the IDF’s statement found that Israeli armored vehicles were, in fact, operating in the area at the time, and that the gunfire heard in the Red Crescent recordings was consistent with IDF weapons.

In a speech after winning an award at the Venice Film Festival in September, Ben Hania said Rajab’s story “is not hers alone. It is tragically the story of an entire people enduring genocide, inflicted by a criminal Israeli regime that acts with impunity.”