Israeli Army Admits Troops Fired on Car Carrying 5-Year-Old Hind Rajab
Israeli Military Admits Firing on Hind Rajab's Car
The Israeli military on Wednesday admitted its troops fired on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in 2024 and said it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing. [1] Hind Rajab had made the emergency call after her family's car came under fire during an attempt to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli advance. [1] The military said its findings indicated troops had fired at a vehicle that was approaching them while travelling contrary to the advance notice that had been given to residents in the area. [1] It said the initial fire killed five of the passengers, while Hind Rajab and her cousin Layan Hamada survived. [1] The military said movement of a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance had then been coordinated in order to evacuate the casualties. [1] However, according to the allegations raised, upon the ambulance's arrival at the scene of the incident, a shell was fired toward it, resulting in the deaths of the two paramedics travelling in it. [1] Following 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. [1] The military also published reviews into four other high-profile incidents in Gaza, saying it was launching a criminal probe into the 2025 killing of 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel. [1]
Recovery of Bodies and Initial Denials
Hind Rajab's body was recovered from a car riddled with bullets in Gaza City days after she was last heard from in a desperate, hours-long phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024. [1] Her body was eventually recovered along with those of six relatives and two Red Crescent rescuers sent to find her. [1] The Israeli military had previously denied its troops were present in the area near the incident. [1] 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. [4] When an ambulance arrived, contact with the girl and the rescuers themselves was lost. [4] Twelve days later, the bodies of the girl, her relatives and two ambulance workers were recovered from the area. [4] Her death sparked international outrage and calls for an independent investigation, and the original audio recordings of her emergency call were incorporated into the Oscar-nominated feature film "The Voice of Hind Rajab". [1]
Investigation Decisions on Other High-Profile Incidents
The military said it had ordered a criminal probe into the killing of 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel in southern Gaza in March 2025. [1] The military said criminal investigations would not be launched into three other incidents, involving the killing of seven employees from World Central Kitchen and four from Doctors Without Borders. [1] On the World Central Kitchen incident, the military said there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation. [4] The military said the investigation decisions followed probes by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism. [4] It released decisions regarding five incidents involving the deaths of Palestinians. [4]
Details of the March 2025 Aid Workers Killing
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. [4] The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said at the time that a team of first responders was killed by Israeli forces on March 23, 2025 and that other emergency and aid teams were hit one after another over several hours while searching for their missing colleagues. [1] Those killed included eight Red Crescent staff, six members of the Gaza civil defence agency and one employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. [1] The bodies were found buried near Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah in what OCHA described as a mass grave. [1] The military said Wednesday that 15 Palestinians were killed including medics and charged that six dead were identified as belonging to Hamas. [1] Troops then decided to crush the vehicles and to cover the bodies with metal mesh. [1] Having found that the firing conducted during the incident raises a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident. [1] The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said at the time that the incident amounted to potential war crimes. [1]
Reactions from Aid Groups, Foundation and Israeli Officials
The founder of World Central Kitchen, Jose Andres, said on X that the decision was wrong and is painful for all of us. [1] The US-based charity called the decision inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive and demanded an independent commission to investigate. [1] The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based legal organisation seeking to address alleged Israeli violations in Gaza, said it had no confidence in the Israeli military probe. [1] These reported investigations, even if they do occur, should not be mistaken for a genuine step toward justice. [1] Israel's foreign ministry said the opening of the criminal investigation showed Israel to be a law-abiding democracy committed to the rule of law. [1] Israel thoroughly investigates claims of misconduct, including amid the harrowing war against the jihadi organizations that seek its destruction. [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. [4] 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. [4] I want to say to the whole world, Ambulances 101 is not a target and they must be protected. [4]
Broader Context of Casualties Since 2023
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. [4] The dead include many aid workers, doctors, journalists and others. [4] 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. [4] The Gaza ceasefire declared in last October may have halted major fighting in Gaza but it failed to end Israeli attacks. [4] Israel has said its ongoing strikes aim to thwart imminent attacks by Hamas and other Gaza militants. [4] More than 1,200 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce, according to Gaza health authorities and the Israeli military. [4]
What to watch next: Israeli rights groups say that criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions, with only a tiny proportion of investigations leading to indictments over the last decade while growing political pressure further deters Israeli law-enforcement authorities from holding those responsible accountable, even when clear evidence does exist. [4]
