Israeli military announces criminal investigation into killing of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab
Israel’s military has announced that it will launch a criminal investigation into the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family – and admitted for the first time that it fired on her family’s car.
A separate criminal investigation will probe the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics in Gaza in May 2025.
However, the military said that it would not launch criminal investigations into three other high-profile attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.
A statement from the military, issued on Wednesday, said that it had completed reviews of 150 incidents involving Israeli troops in Gaza and made decisions on five cases.
It did not mention the Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025, including Maryam Abu Daqqa, a photojournalist for the Independent’s partner site Independent Arabia.
Hind was killed alongside her relatives in February 2024 as they tried to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive.
Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying Hind, her aunt and uncle, and four of her cousins.
Hind’s 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamada called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, telling them that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed.
Seconds later, more gunshots were heard, and Layan’s screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call.
Hind was the sole survivor in the car. The Red Crescent stayed in contact with her as they tried to get permission from the military to rescue her, but contact was eventually lost.
Hind, her relatives and two medics were found dead 12 days later.
A statement from the IDF, issued on Wednesday, admitted for the first time that troops fired on the vehicle.
“The findings of the examination indicate that IDF troops fired at a vehicle that was approaching them,” it said.
“Following review of the findings an due to apparent 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.”
