The mother of Hind Rajab hopes that a film about her final moments, to be screened on Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival, will help end Israel’s Gaza genocide.
"I hope this film will help stop this destructive war and save the other children of Gaza," her mother, Wissam Hamada, told AFP by phone on Tuesday from Gaza City in a call ahead of the premiere in the Italian city.
The film tells the real-life story of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli forces along with her family in Gaza in 2024, even as she pleaded for help over the phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent while trapped in a car under Israeli fire on January 29, 2024.
The Israeli soldiers riddled the car with 335 bullets.
Central to the movie is the actual audio recording of Hind’s desperate call, according to the director Kaouther Ben Hania’s statement on the Venice Film Festival’s official website.
Her death sparked international outrage and calls for an independent investigation, and the original audio recordings of her emergency call have been incorporated into "The Voice of Hind Rajab", one of 21 features competing at the Venice festival.
"My daughter Hind's voice has become heard all over the world, and she will never be forgotten," the 29-year-old mother said.
To Hamada, who lost her husband a year ago, their slain daughter "is just one case among thousands.”
'Huge betrayal'
Her death has grabbed international attention, but "why didn't the world act to save other parents and children?" said the mother, who now lives with her five-year-old son.
"The whole world has left us to die, to go hungry, to live in fear and to be forcibly displaced without doing anything. It's a huge betrayal."
"The Voice of Hind Rajab", by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, recounts the last hours of the girl's life using the original recordings, with the family's permission, according to Hamada.
Rajab's body was eventually recovered along with six relatives and two Red Crescent rescue workers sent to find her.
Israel has never announced a formal investigation into the case.
Ben Hania said in a statement to the Venice Film Festival that after hearing excerpts from Rajab's calls for help, she immediately contacted the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
"I spoke at length with Hind's mother, with the real people who were on the other end of that call, those who tried to help her. I listened, I cried, I wrote," she said.
