Israel Opens Criminal Probes into Palestine Conflict Killings of Hind Rajab and 15 Aid Workers
Israel’s military has decided to open criminal investigations into the killings of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in the Palestine conflict, while declining to pursue a criminal probe into the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in April 2024. The decisions followed reviews by the military’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism. [1]
Israeli Military Launches Criminal Probes
Israel’s military will open internal investigations over its troops’ high-profile killings in Gaza of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025. The military said the investigation decisions followed probes by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism. It released decisions regarding five incidents involving the deaths of Palestinians. They included an examination of the killings of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. On that incident, the military said there was “no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation.” [1] In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said that “following a review of the findings” and “due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.” [3]
Reactions from Rights Groups and the Hind Rajab Foundation
Israeli rights groups say that criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions. Dan Owen, a researcher in the Yesh Din rights organization, said that over the last decade only a “tiny” proportion of investigations had led to indictments while growing political pressure “further deters Israeli law-enforcement authorities from holding those responsible accountable, even when clear evidence does exist.” [1] The Hind Rajab Foundation has “no confidence” in the planned Israeli probe into the girl’s killing, describing the move as little more than a “masquerade” designed to evade accountability. [2]
Hind Rajab Foundation expresses no confidence in Israeli probe into the girl's killing. — Source: anadolu
Details of Hind Rajab’s Killing
During Israel’s offensive in response to an October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war, Hind Rajab was pinned down in a car for hours, begging Palestinian medics by mobile phone to send help, while her aunt, uncle and three cousins already lay dead. When an ambulance arrived, contact with the girl and the rescuers themselves was lost. Twelve days later, the bodies of the girl, her relatives and two ambulance workers were recovered from the area. [1] The Palestinian child was one of seven family members travelling in a vehicle that came under Israeli fire in Gaza City in January 2024. She initially survived the attack that killed several family members, but her body was recovered days later along with her relatives and two paramedics who had tried to save her in an ambulance. [3] Hind Rajab’s car was hit by Israeli fire as she and her family tried to flee bombing during the war in Gaza. Several family members were killed, but Hind managed to answer a callback from the helpers at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which lasted hours. Her pleas for someone to rescue her ended when the phone line was cut amid the sound of more gunfire. The ambulance trying to reach her was also shelled, and the bodies of Hind, her family, and the ambulance crew were all later found. A film about Hind Rajab’s death won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award. [1]
Deaths of Emergency and Aid Workers
In March 2025, 15 emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense and the United Nations were recovered from a grave in the sand in the south of the Gaza Strip, U.N. officials said at the time. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a post on X that the bodies were buried near “wrecked & well-marked vehicles,” adding: “They were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives. We demand answers & justice.” [1] Eid Aziz, media director for the Red Crescent, told Reuters that “more important than opening the investigation is that this should have been prevented. The Palestinian Red Crescent badge is protected by international laws, and the medical staff must be protected, especially as they execute their duties and humanitarian work.” Munther Abed, a Palestinian paramedic who said he was present at the incident in which 15 of his colleagues were killed, told Reuters on Wednesday he hoped “those who killed my colleagues, who were like family to me, face justice, real justice”. “I want to say to the whole world, Ambulances 101 is not a target and they must be protected,” he said referring to the speed dial number for the Red Crescent Service in Gaza. [1]
Israeli military opens criminal investigation into the killing of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza. — Source: myjoyonline
Casualties and Missing Persons Since Ceasefire
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the Gaza war in 2023, with thousands more killed in its military operations in southern Lebanon. The dead include many aid workers, doctors, journalists and others. [1] Gaza death toll tops 73,400 as Israeli attacks kill 7 more Palestinians in past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry. [4] More than 73,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign, including about 1,200 since a ceasefire was announced last October, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. [5] The Gaza ceasefire declared in last October may have halted major fighting in Gaza but it failed to end Israeli attacks. Israel has said its ongoing strikes aim to thwart imminent attacks by Hamas and other Gaza militants. More than 1,200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce, according to Gaza health authorities and the Israeli military. [1] The true number of dead Palestinians could be significantly higher. The health ministry's death toll doesn't count bodies buried under the rubble, meaning many of the missing are not part of the count. The Red Cross says it has received more than 5,000 requests to trace missing people who could be buried amid the destruction. The Civil Defence agency in Gaza believes the number of missing people is over 8,000. Bodies are being discovered on a daily basis. [5]
Context on Investigations and Israeli Position
Israel’s military, which says its attacks target Hamas and Hezbollah militants, opens investigations into some of its attacks, when they involve the deaths of civilians including medical and aid workers or journalists. [1] Israeli forces say they have never deliberately targeted civilians in the Gaza war. They say the Palestinian militant group Hamas endangers such people’s lives by using them for cover. The Israeli military did not immediately comment directly on the deaths of the Red Crescent workers at the time. In a later statement to Reuters, it said that it had facilitated the evacuation of the bodies from the area, which it described as an active combat zone. It did not specifically respond to questions about why the bodies were retrieved from beneath the sand or why the vehicles were found crushed. [1]
What to watch next: The Red Cross has received more than 5,000 tracing requests amid ongoing challenges in body recovery and identification, while families continue searches for relatives possibly held in Israeli detention without notification.
