Oscar-nominated documentary drama director Hind Rajab’s voice Amnesty International has criticized the Israeli military investigation announced this week into the death of the 5-year-old Palestinian girl, who was martyred after Israeli forces opened fire on her family’s car in Gaza City.
“This announcement is just a smokescreen.” Kawthar Ben Hania said on Instagram:Wondering why the investigation took so long.
“For more than two years, the evidence has been there: independent investigations, satellite images, and ballistic analysis,” Ben Hania wrote. “And there was the most devastating piece of evidence of all: Hind’s voice, describing the Israeli tanks that were circling her. What more did we need? Did we really have to wait for the accused to decide to investigate himself (yes, himself!) before these facts were finally taken seriously?”
She added: “Look at the cases the Israeli army is choosing to talk about today: they are precisely the cases that international public opinion has made impossible to ignore. And what about all the other cases? The ones whose names we will never know because their deaths did not break through the wall of international indifference? Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to kill Palestinians in Gaza, while the occupation intensifies in the West Bank.”
Pointing out that Israel’s move to launch a criminal investigation into Rajab’s death is a “PR operation,” Ben Hania wrote, “What is needed is justice (provided by an independent authority) for India and for all victims of the Gaza genocide.”
The Israeli military said this week that it had fired on the Rajab family’s car and sent an ambulance to help them – all six people in the car and two paramedics were killed – as the family tried to flee an Israeli invasion. The army opened an investigation into the behavior of its forces.
Like Ben Hania, Rajab’s mother Wissam Hamadeh also called for an independent investigation and questioned the delay in the Israeli investigation.
Why was the shooting at Hind’s car and the paramedics not investigated and confessed until more than two years later? Hamada L said news agency. “It’s an attempt to divert attention from what’s happening in Gaza and improve the image of the (Israeli) army before the world. That’s all.”
Voices of Rajab and her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamada calling for help from January 2024 Released by the Palestine Red Crescent Society and excerpts from it Hind Rajab’s voice.
The film received numerous awards, including Oscar and BAFTA nominations and winning the Grand Jury Prize in Venice.
When asked earlier this year whether she believed justice would one day be served for Rajab, Ben Hania said: Hollywood Reporter“I hope so, because we cannot live in a world without accountability. … I don’t have a crystal ball, but my hope is that this movie will be part of the change. Because we cannot live in a world where you rule the world just because you have the biggest gun.”
