At 9:32 a.m., shortly after Hind and her family left their home in Tel al-Hawa, an Israeli military spokesperson issued an evacuation notice on social media, instructing residents of western Gaza City to head south. At approximately 2:30 p.m., Layan Hamada, Hind’s cousin, made the initial call to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) dispatch after their car was struck by gunfire. At that moment, Layan and Hind were the only survivors in the vehicle. Earshot’s analysis of the recordings by the PRCS in the final moments of Layan’s call revealed that 64 gunshots were fired within 6 seconds. The weapon used was firing at a rate of 750 to 900 rounds per minute—faster than what is typical for AK-style rifles, which are commonly linked to Hamas.
Following Layan’s death, Hind became the sole survivor. PRCS dispatchers made intermittent phone contact with her. Permission for an ambulance to reach Hind’s location was granted at 5:40 p.m. by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Fault Lines’ evidence indicates that paramedics Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun were sent in an ambulance from al-Ahli Hospital. They arrived at the scene around 6 p.m., only to be shot at as soon as they arrived.
Hind Rajab was a 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in the Israeli occupation on January 29, 2024, along with her six family members and two paramedics who were coming to her rescue. Her body was found in the car with the bodies of her family members on February 10, 2024. An investigation by Forensic Architecture revealed that 335 bullets were fired at the car, and that the tank operators had a clear line of sight to the two children inside the vehicle. The absence of a comprehensive investigation and accountability over five months after the fatal attack that claimed the lives of Hind and her family at the hands of the IDF is deeply alarming and itself amounts to a violation of the right to life. Over 440 Palestinian children have sustained injuries just from live gunfire. These statistics highlight growing concerns over the disproportionate and excessive use of force against vulnerable populations.
Since October of 2023, an average of one Palestinian child has been killed every two days in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem—marking a rise of more than three times compared to the prior nine months. Hind’s family, like countless others in Gaza, have been repeatedly displaced due to Israel’s military operations in the area. They were killed while attempting to escape from Tal al-Hawa in search of safety—an incident that appears to reflect a wider pattern of indiscriminate civilian killings as people attempt to follow Israeli military evacuation orders and flee the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The killing of children is universally abhorrent because it violates our deepest moral principles—children are innocent, vulnerable, and embody the hope and future of humanity. They are not combatants, nor are they responsible for the conflicts that surround them. When a child is killed, it’s not just a life lost—it is a life that never had the chance to grow, dream, or contribute to the world. It is a failure of humanity, a collapse of our most basic ethical responsibilities.
The reason why only certain populations receive sustained global attention often lies in political, racial, and economic biases. Media coverage, international outrage, and humanitarian response tend to be shaped by which populations are seen as relatable, strategic, or “deserving” in the eyes of powerful nations and institutions. Some lives are grieved loudly on the world stage, while others are dismissed with silence or portrayed in ways that dehumanize or justify their suffering. This selective empathy reveals uncomfortable truths about who gets to be seen as innocent, whose pain is validated, and whose deaths are quietly rationalized. It is not just a media issue—it’s systemic, rooted in geopolitics, colonial legacies, and implicit bias. But children, regardless of where they’re born, deserve to live and their deaths should never be met with indifference—whether that is in Palestine, Ukraine, or the United States.
In 2025, it is alarming how much media narratives have shaped, and often distorted, our understanding of governments and the people they impact. If we can all agree that the death of a child—whether from illness, abuse, or war—is never acceptable, then why do so many hesitate to speak out for Palestinian children? 335 bullets is not just an excessive number—it is unimaginable. Even if someone were somehow threatened by a child, that is not self-defense. As a Trauma Operating Room and Critical Care nurse, I have cared for both victims and perpetrators of gun violence. The highest number of gunshot wounds I have seen in a single patient was nine, and that was an adult. There is simply no justification for the death of a five-year-old child when there is overwhelming evidence about the weapons used, the visibility of the targets, the authorizations granted, and the absence of any credible threat in the area.
Had she lived, Hind Rajab would have turned seven on May 3 this year. If we, as a global community, have any voice at all, it should be used to honor her memory and confront the moral failures that led to her death. When we allow the mistreatment and killing of children to go unchallenged, we become complicit—no better than those who carry out these horrific acts. There are always alternatives to protect innocent lives, even while pursuing military objectives, if only there were the will to prioritize humanity. In a world that fails to protect the innocent, let your memory be the spark that demands change as it will forever be a call for justice—happy 7th birthday, Hind!
Saba Qaiser is a nurse anesthetist student.
