The Hind Rajab Foundation has called on the US government to arrest the commander of an Israeli military unit believed responsible for the killing of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza, who is currently visiting the United States.
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), which tracks Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in Gaza, said it has filed an emergency request for the US Department of Justice to arrest Israeli soldier Sean Glass, who was present in the US.
«Sean Glass commanded the 'Vampire Empire' Company implicated in the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab, members of her family, and the medics sent to rescue them. HRF's investigation places him and his troops in the direct vicinity of Hind's vehicle during the killing», the group said in a statement.
«Today, Glass walks free in the United States. HRF demands that the US authorities arrest him and bring him to justice.»
The five-year-old's killing on January 29, 2024, triggered global outrage and became a symbol of Israel's targeting of Palestinian civilians and children during its genocidal war on Gaza.
On that date, the girl initially survived an Israeli attack on a vehicle which killed several members of her family. Following the Israeli shelling, Hind answered a phone call from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), during which she told medics to come and save her.
After coordination with the Israeli army, an ambulance was sent to rescue her. That ambulance was shelled by Israeli forces, killing two paramedics. Twelve days after the attack, the bodies of Hind, six members of her family and the two paramedics were found.
PRCS said that Israeli forces «deliberately targeted the ambulance upon its arrival at the scene» despite prior coordination to facilitate the rescue mission.
Her mother, Wissam Rajab, said at the time that the family was separated when they tried to flee the area, which was under intense Israeli bombardment. Due to poor weather, Wissam had put her daughter in the vehicle along with her uncle, his wife and their children, while the rest of the family fled on foot.
After hearing gunfire in the area, the family called the Red Crescent to tell them the car was getting shot at.
Initially, Wissam thought everyone in the car was killed until she got a call from Layan Hamadeh, her 15-year-old cousin, saying: «Hind and I are wounded, and all my family is dead, I don't want to die. Please call an ambulance to save us. I'm scared. The tanks are 500 metres away from me.»
The line went dead, and Wissam thought they had both been killed. But when she called again, Hind answered and said: «I'm alive, but Layan was martyred. Mum, I'm afraid, they are all dead. Come and get me.»
The PRCS dispatched the two paramedics to rescue Hind. The medics said they were 15 minutes away and that they were looking for her, but then the line cut off and the crew lost contact.
PRCS released an audio recording of the last phone call with Hind, during which her final pleas can be heard amid the rattle of gunfire. «I'm scared of the dark, come get me,» she said.
According to Rajab, Hind said: «Don't leave me, I'm cold, hungry, and afraid.»
A 2024 Al Jazeera investigation into the killing of Rajab and her family revealed that an Israeli tank was likely 13 to 23 metres (43 to 75ft) away and would have clearly seen the civilians inside the car.
Multiple human rights experts, scholars, and a UN inquiry have concluded that Israel's assault on Gaza amounts to genocide, killing more than 74,400 Palestinians since October 2023 and devastating over 90 percent of the enclave.
US Representative Rashida Tlaib has also called for her government to arrest Glass.
«As a party to the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, our government is obligated to arrest and investigate him for these war crimes and acts of genocide», she wrote.
