Israeli Military Opens Criminal Probe into Killing of Hind Rajab

The Israeli military acknowledged on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, that its troops fired on the car carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024.

The military announced it ordered a criminal investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division into her killing. Hind Rajab's body was recovered from a bullet-riddled car in Gaza City days after her last phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024. Her death sparked international outrage and calls for an independent investigation.

The Israeli military previously denied soldiers were present in the area, stating in a preliminary investigation that its forces were not present near the vehicle or within firing range. The military also admitted a shell was fired at the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance sent to rescue her. The findings indicated apparent failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance.

Hind's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, told AFP her family had no faith in the probe, calling it an attempt to justify the killing. The Hind Rajab Foundation stated the Israeli investigation should not be mistaken for a genuine step toward justice, citing a track record of investigations ending without meaningful prosecution. Dan Owen, a researcher at Israeli rights organization Yesh Din, said a tiny percentage of Israeli criminal investigations into Palestinian killings result in convictions.

Investigations by The Washington Post, Sky News, and Forensic Architecture concluded Rajab and six family members were fleeing when Israeli forces opened fire, and soldiers shelled the ambulance. The bodies of Rajab, her family, and two Red Crescent paramedics were recovered 12 days later, on February 10, 2023, after Israeli forces withdrew. Rajab's three-hour phone call to paramedics was broadcast globally and incorporated into the Oscar-nominated film "The Voice of Hind Rajab."

Her killing was cited in a UN commission of inquiry accusing Israel of war crimes. The military also opened a criminal investigation into a March 2025 incident where Israeli troops killed 15 Palestinian medics and buried them in a mass grave.