Israel launches probe into Hind Rajab killing

The Israeli army belatedly announced last week that it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war. These were the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family in January 2024 and of 15 Palestinian paramedics in May 2025. However, the Israelis said they would not address three other strikes which killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. The military said it had completed reviews of 150 cases and taken decisions on five.

The Israelis did not cite other high-profile killings that the military has vowed to investigate during the Gaza war. It did not mention Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025, including journalist Mariam Dagga, who contributed to The Associated Press and other news outlets. Unlike the Rajab and medics cases, their deaths did not grab international attention.

Hind Rajab’s killing was both documented and personalised. She was identified while fleeing Gaza City in a car with relatives in response to Israeli orders as the army launched an all-out offensive on the city. Although the family had been granted “coordination” with Israeli army headquarters, the message was not sent to army units in the field. Israeli troops shelled the vehicle carrying Hind and four cousins and her aunt and uncle. Hind’s cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, to tell them that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed. Seconds later, more shots were heard, and Layan’s screaming ceased, according to the Red Crescent’s recording of the call.

Hind was the sole survivor. The Red Crescent team stayed in contact with her for several hours as they tried to get permission from the military to rescue her. Contact was cut. Hind, her five relatives and two medics were found dead after 12 days. In the frantic audio, Hind had begged the Red Crescent dispatchers for rescue. Award-winning Tunisian film maker Kaouther Ben Hania used the recordings along with dramatisation of the emergency team to document the incident to make “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which was supported inter alia by US actor and producer Brad Pitt. Largely in Arabic with contextual translations, the film secured international critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy Award.

The Hind Rajab case does not stand alone. Fifteen Palestinian paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah. Troops initially shot at an ambulance that was hurrying to retrieve casualties from an Israeli attack and subsequently fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor. The Israelis then used a bulldozer to bury in a mass grave the bodies of the paramedics and their crushed vehicles. United Nations and rescue workers were only allowed to reach the site a week later to retrieve the bodies.

Israeli troops originally claimed they opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals. But the Israelis were compelled to change their story after video footage was released showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and identifying logos visible. “We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world,” Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson Eid Azizi told the Associated Press in a phone call. “We shouldn’t have reached this point if they respected and followed the international humanitarian law.” Israel has only revived these flagrant cases because it is under increasing international pressure to reach a settlement with the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Since September 2025, Palestine has been recognised as a sovereign state by 157 of the 193 member states of the United Nations (about 81 per cent). Major Western countries including Britain, Canada, Australia, France, and Belgium as well as the Vatican have extended recognition to the Palestinian state. Just 164 (83 per cent) recognise Israel.

Due to its brutal war on Gaza during which at least one child has been killed daily, Israel is no longer widely viewed by the world public as the victim and is seen as the aggressor. This is a major loss for Israel which has for decades enjoyed impunity and its critics have been attacked as “antisemitic” racists.

The Hind Rajab and paramedic cases are to be formally investigated by Israeli military police rather than neutral foreign investigators, the US independent nonprofit news source The Conversation has reported. The military police will collect forensic evidence, survey communications records, and interrogate army personnel involved. After completion, the report will be handed over to the military advocate general who will decide about issuing indictments. However, under Israeli military law, the conduct in war must be assessed on the basis of a “reasonable” commander’s knowledge at the time firing began. If prosecutors cannot prove “intent” to kill civilians, the case can be considered “negligence” or closed with no action taken.