ISRAELI MILITARY OPENS CRIMINAL PROBE INTO KILLING OF FIVE-YEAR-OLD HIND RAJAB

Israel's military announced on Wednesday that it will open a criminal investigation into the killing of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and six members of her family in Gaza City on 29 January 2024. The military said the investigation would examine alleged failures in the coordination of a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance sent to rescue the child. The announcement marked the first time the Israeli military has admitted to opening fire on the vehicle carrying Hind and her family.

Hind initially survived the initial attack on the car and made an hours-long emergency phone call to the PRCS, telling medics she was alive and afraid. After the military coordinated with the PRCS to send an ambulance, Israeli forces shelled that ambulance, killing paramedics Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun. Twelve days later, the bodies of Hind, six relatives and the two paramedics were recovered from the vehicle. The PRCS accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the ambulance despite prior coordination to facilitate the rescue.

The military is also launching a criminal investigation into the 2025 killings of 15 Palestinians including medics and humanitarian workers in a separate incident. Israeli rights groups have cautioned that such internal investigations rarely result in convictions. Dan Owen, a researcher at the Yesh Din rights organisation, stated that over the past decade only a small proportion of investigations into alleged misconduct by Israeli troops had led to indictments, with growing political pressure further deterring accountability.