5-Year-Old Hind Rajab Was Killed by 355 Israeli Bullets, One Year Ago
+ Ahmed al-Sharaa is Syria's President, Trump threatens to cancel visas & deport pro-Palestine protestors, Sudan's only hospital attacked, captives released & more.
Five-year-old Hind Rajab pleaded for over three hours for help before Israeli forces killed her in January 2024.
”I’m so scared, please come,” were some of Rajab’s last words according to an audio recording released by the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS).
"Please call someone to come and take me,” she can be heard saying several times on Jan. 29, with gunfire in the background.
Rajab was with her family evacuating from Tel al-Hawa, south of Gaza City, under IDF evacuation orders when their car came under fire by Israeli forces.
Per reports, after her entire family was “shot dead,” Rajab was the only survivor in the backseat of the car, trapped inside, and surrounded by the bodies of her aunt, uncle, and four young cousins.
According to The Guardian, Rajab’s conversation with emergency services began with her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamada, who survived the initial attack with Rajab.
Hamada called PRCS and described the tanks while on the phone until the line was cut. By the time PRCS called again, Rajab answered and confirmed that Hamada was dead.
On February 10, 2024, almost two weeks after calling for help and being trapped inside the car with her dead relatives Rajab herslelf was found dead in the back of the car.
Two paramedics from PRCS, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, who were dispatched to rescue Rajab were also found dead less than 50 meters away in a burned ambulance.
According to PRCS officials, the ambulance was attacked despite receiving prior approval from Israeli authorities, including approved route operations and navigation. Paramedics said that they saw laser lights and heard gunfire before losing connection
“I will never meet heroes like them again, the kind that know they will die and they still go,” said Omar al-Qam, a dispatcher with PRCS, while speaking of his deceased colleagues..
According to an investigation by Forensic Architecture, Al Jazeera's Fault Lines and the NGO Earshot the car in which Rajab was killed had been hit with 335 bullets, with most of the entries coming from the right side of the vehicle.
Related: Soul of my Soul': Palestinian Grandfather Killed by Israeli Airstrike in Gaza
⤵️ WEEKLY NEWS RE-CAP 🗞️💨
🚨ISRAEL RELEASES PALESTINIANS AFTER DELAYS
Israel released 110 Palestinian captives in exchange for three Israelis, and five Thai captives on Thursday. The release of the Palestinian captives came after several hours of delay— why the delay took place is unclear.
🍉 TRUMP TO CANCEL VISAS OF PRO-PALESTINE STUDENT PROTESTORS
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday under the guise of combating antisemitism that asks schools and federal agencies to report any act of anti-zionism, including participation in pro-Palestinian protests, within 60 days. Those who partake in such actions could be have their visas canceled and be deported, Trump said.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said, in his fact-sheet. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
Related: Donald Trump Kicks Off Day One with 26 Executive Orders Impacting Muslims
🇸🇾 AL-SHARAA NAMED SYRIA’S INTERIM PRESIDENT
Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, abolished the country’s constitution and is declared President during a meeting in Damascus on Wednesday.
According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the former rebel leader will “assume the duties of the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic and represent it in international forums,” commander Hassan Abdelghani said. Abdelghani added Sharaa will be president during a “transitional phase.”
Related: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s Regime Has Come to an End
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🏥 SUDAN’S ONLY FUNCTIONAL HOSPITAL ATTACKED IN EL FASHER
At least 70 kIlled and over 100 injured after a drone targeted the last functioning hospital Sudan’s only functional hospital in El Fasher, according to local officials and the World Health Organization.
At the time of the attack, the hospital was “packed with patients receiving care,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Most of the victims of the incident were women and children.
The Sudanese government blames the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the drone strike on the hospital.
Related: Israel Burns North Gaza's Last Functioning Hospital as Fifth Baby Freezes to Death
🚫 IRAQI MAN WHO WENT VIRAL FOR BURNING QURAN MURDERED
Salwan Momika, the Iraqi man who went viral for burning the Quran publicly, was shot dead in Sweden hours before a court ruling.
A spokesperson for Sweden's prosecutor's office confirmed to CNN that Momika was shot dead in capital city Stockholm on Wednesday. At least five arrests have been made in connection to his murder, Swedish authorities said.
The 38-year-old went viral globally for staging several Quran-burning and other anti-Islam protests in Sweden beginning in 2023.
⤵️ THE WATCH LIST 🚨
Gaza Population Down 6% Since Start of Genocide
The overall population of Gaza has declined 6% since Israel began its genocide in Gaza, according to data collected by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
According to PCBS, the population of Gaza has declined by about 160,000 during the last 15 months to 2.1 million, with more than a million or 47% of the total children under the age of 18.
Related: PHOTOS: Millions Across The World Protest Against Israel's Genocide In Gaza
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That headline is so misleading