Military orders criminal investigation into the death of the five-year-old and six family members in Gaza in 2024<\/p>\n
The Israeli military admitted on Wednesday its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing.<\/p>\n
The death of Rajab and her family was one of the most high profile of a series of incidents involving civilian casualties during the first months of the Gaza conflict which prompted international outrage.<\/p>\n
Rajab died after a desperate three-hour phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on 29 January 2024 in which she pleaded for rescue. The family\u2019s Kia Picanto car had been hit as the family sought to flee a new Israeli offensive into Gaza City. All the other passengers were killed.<\/p>\n
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) repeatedly denied its troops had been present in the area near the incident, but investigations by media and others found evidence that strongly suggested nearby Israeli tanks were responsible.<\/p>\n
Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue Rajab and stayed on the line until contact was lost, but the ambulance too came under fire, killing two medics. The bodies of the casualties were only retrieved 12 days later when Israeli troops withdrew. The IDF also admitted Wednesday that troops had fired on the ambulance.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing 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,\u201d the military said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions.<\/p>\n
The IDF published reviews on Wednesday into four other high-profile incidents in Gaza, saying it was also launching a criminal investigation into the killing in near the southern city of Rafah of 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel in March 2025.<\/p>\n
Troops lying in ambush for Hamas militants initially shot at an ambulance that was trying to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on a series of emergency vehicles which approached their positions, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings.<\/p>\n
The soldiers then bulldozed over the bodies and vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened,\u201d said Jonathan Whittall, a UN official who helped recover the bodies.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military initially said it had opened fire because the vehicles were \u201cadvancing suspiciously\u201d without headlights or emergency signals. But it backtracked from that account after footage emerged showing the Red Crescent and civil defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible.<\/p>\n
Munther Abed, a Palestinian paramedic who was present at the incident in which 15 of his colleagues were killed, said he hoped \u201cthose who killed \u2060my colleagues, who were like family to me, face justice, real justice\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say to the whole world, ambulances 101 \u200bis not a target and they must be protected,\u201d he said referring \u200bto the speed dial number for the Red Crescent service \u200bin Gaza.<\/p>\n