Rana Faqih’s job is to respond unhesitatingly to emergencies. But on January 29, 2024, the Palestine Red Crescent Society first responder found herself helpless.
Working on the emergency lines at Red Crescent headquarters in the occupied West Bank, she and a colleague received a plea for help from Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl injured and trapped in a car in Gaza city with dead relatives as Israeli forces surrounded them.
In an interview with The National, Ms Faqih recalled how she tried for more than an hour to reassure Hind that rescuers would arrive, until the line went dead.
"I remember Hind's voice as if she were still talking to me. She was scared, her voice trembling, and she was asking: Please, come get me,” said the first responder.
"I was trying to reassure her, staying on the line with her, while my heart was broken. I was basically crying the entire call. Time was passing at a deathly slow pace,” she added. "I will never forget her voice. To this day, it's still there in my head.”
Ms Faqih spoke to Hind after her colleague answered a call from the girl's cousin, Layan, before she was killed. At some point, Hind began screaming as Ms Faqih heard tanks approaching. Then, the line went dead.
“I broke down. I thought the tank ran over her,” she said. Her colleague called Hind back. She picked up – and said she wanted to speak to Ms Faqih. They stayed on the line until she was killed.
At one point, Hind can be heard saying, “I’m so scared … Call someone to get me, please,” according to the recording released by the PRCS.
Ms Faqih recited verses from the Quran with Hind, who repeated them after her. For a moment, it offered some distraction, but the fear never left. “Please get me out of here,” the little girl pleaded.
Voice of Hind
Nothing was known of Hind’s fate until 12 days later, when Israeli troops withdrew from the area and the bullet-riddled car containing the bodies of Hind, her aunt, uncle, and four cousins was found in the Tel Al Hawa district of Gaza city.
The bodies of two Red Crescent workers sent to rescue her were found nearby, along with their ambulance.
"Forgive me,” said Ms Faqih, 39, when asked about her message to Hind's mother. "We were trying, by God, we were trying.”
Hind is one of thousands of children killed by the Israeli army since the war began in October 2023, but the recording of her call to the Red Crescent and the uncertainty about her fate grabbed international attention.
The Voice of Hind Rajab, a film about her final hours, is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday. Hollywood stars Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rooney Mara have joined Oscar-winning directors Jonathan Glazer and Alfonso Cuaron as executive producers.
"The world heard Hind's voice, but did their heart listen?,” asked the Palestinian first responder, who has lived all her life under Israeli occupation.
"Children in Gaza aren't numbers. Hind was a real girl, dreaming, afraid, laughing, crying, and loving to live. Help us stop this war and the killing of children and civilians, so we can once again believe that humanity still exists,” she said.
"As for Hind, keep her in your memory, not just as a child who was martyred, but as a voice calling to the entire world and saying: I'm scared, come take me.”
Not a target
Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 63,600 Palestinians, including thousands of children. Still, global outcry and calls to end the bombing have drawn no response from the Israeli government, dominated largely by extremist ministers.
In Hind’s case, Israel carried out an internal military review that assigned no responsibility, but independent investigations and international observers say the evidence points to targeting, not a tragic accident.
Ms Faqih said the world must help bring justice to Hind, her family, and Ahmed and Yousef, the two Red Crescent staff who were killed.
She recalled how the response to Hind's call was co-ordinated with local authorities.
"On the day of the incident, they didn't hesitate for a moment. They were informed, and finally, co-ordination with the health ministry arrived. They waited for the map and ran to it, carrying in their hearts a promise: We will get you there,” she said.
"But they were targeted by the occupying forces and martyred, at the heart of their duty, performing the most sacred mission: saving lives,” she added.
"In their name, and in the name of every colleague of ours in the Palestine Red Crescent, we appeal to the world: Do not leave our crews and all medical personnel alone. Do not remain silent when we are targeted.”
Every call
Since the Hamas attacks on southern Israel, ministers have called for punishing the entire population of two million in Gaza by continuing the war against them, starving them, and displacing them from their land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
Last month, recordings leaked by Israeli media revealed a senior army intelligence general justifying the killing of 50 Palestinians for every Israeli – even children – as a way to send a message to future generations of Israelis and Palestinians.
Ms Faqih has been a first responder since 2013, participating in relief missions during Pakistan’s floods and the Syria earthquake, and has extensive experience in disaster management. But none of that prepared her for Hind’s tragedy.
"Even though I work in a humanitarian profession and I knew the dangers associated, I never expected to witness a moment like this – a moment of lost humanity, and an innocent voice calling out in the midst of death,” she said.
"I never imagined I'd witness such immense pain – a moment when hope dies, right in front of you, in the voice of a little girl.”
She said she has been carrying the burden of every call ever since, as if it were Hind calling her again.
"At work, I kept working and answering calls. Maybe that's how I vented my anger and sadness – knowing that there were still appeals and needs.”
But every now and then, that one-hour phone call at 2.45pm suddenly haunts her with waves of grief and pain.
"Every minute that passed felt like a year, and I was helpless.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group C
Liverpool v Napoli, midnight
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
SRI LANKA SQUAD
Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
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The specs
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Stage 2
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06
4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06
5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
