By Mohammad Majid
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Friday that the fate of a 6-year-old and a rescue team trying to save her in the Gaza Strip remains unknown after nearly four days.
"More than 89 hours have passed, and the fate of our colleagues Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun from the PRCS ambulance team, who went to rescue the 6-year-old girl, Hind, remains unknown," PRCS said in a statement.
According to a previous statement by PRCS, an ambulance with two rescuers was dispatched to rescue two sisters -- Layan, 15, and Hind, 6 -- after they were besieged by the Israeli army in their car along with family members.
Their family members were killed in the car and the girls remained trapped inside, unable to get out as the army was shooting at the car, it said.
The humanitarian group said Tuesday that Layan was killed as she was speaking to the PRCS team by telephone when a barrage of fire was clearly heard in the background.
While Hind, who later picked up the phone and asked that the team to rescue her remained inside the car, PRCS lost contact with the two rescuers and Hind. Their fate remains unclear and unknown.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the event unfolded in western Gaza City, which has witnessed Israeli attacks in recent days.
"Where is Hind? Where are Yousef and Ahmed? Are they still alive? We want to know their fate," said PRCS. "We appeal to the international community for immediate intervention to pressure the occupation authorities to reveal the fate of the child Hind and the PRCS crew that went to rescue her.”
The Israeli army has yet to comment on the matter.
Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 that has killed at least 27,131 Palestinians and injured 66,287 following a surprise attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar