Israel confirms soldiers fired at car carrying Hind Rajab and opens criminal investigation

The Israeli military confirmed for the first time that it opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza in 2024, per BBC News. Rajab was killed along with six relatives. The military announced it will open a criminal investigation into the deaths, marking a reversal from earlier denials.

Rajab initially survived the attack and answered a telephone call during which she pleaded for help, with the call lasting hours, according to BBC News. An ambulance sent to reach her was shelled, killing two paramedics: Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, per BBC News. Hind's body was recovered days later along with the bodies of her six relatives, according to BBC News.

Operator Rana Faqih of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society stayed on the line with Rajab for hours as she pleaded for rescue. Faqih told BBC News in February 2024: "At one point, she told me it was getting dark. She was scared. She asked me how far away my house was. I felt paralysed and helpless." Three hours after Hind's call began, an ambulance was cleared to approach the area and was dispatched to rescue her, per BBC News. The ambulance crew notified operators that they were nearing the location and about to be checked for entry by Israeli forces, then the line disconnected, according to BBC News.

The IDF's examination findings "indicate that IDF troops fired at a vehicle" that was "travelling contrary to the advanced notice that had been published in an announcement by the IDF Spokesperson to residents of the area," per BBC News. The IDF initially stated that none of its troops were in the area at the time of Hind's killing, per BBC News. The IDF later said it had "conducted raids on terror targets" with forces operating in neighbourhoods in Gaza City, including Tel al-Hawa, where Hind was located, according to BBC News.

The IDF stated: "Due to alleged failures in the co-ordination 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," per BBC News. The IDF also said it would investigate the killing of 15 Palestinians, including medics and a UN worker, in March 2025, according to BBC News. In that incident, an IDF unit fired on ambulances, a fire engine, and a marked UN vehicle in the Tal al-Sultan area of Rafah in southern Gaza, per BBC News. The Israeli military initially said its troops fired on "suspicious vehicles" driving in darkness with their headlights and emergency lights off during the March 2025 incident, per BBC News. The Israeli military later said the account was "mistaken" after a video found on the mobile phone of paramedic Rifaat Radwan showed the convoy was using its emergency lights, according to BBC News.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated: "The [Israeli] occupation deliberately targeted the Red Crescent crew despite obtaining prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the scene to rescue the child Hind," per BBC News. The UN cited Hind's case in a commission of inquiry, accusing Israel of war crimes, which Israel denies, according to BBC News. The story was made into an Oscar-nominated film called The Voice of Hind Rajab, per BBC News.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, based in Brussels, said it had "no confidence" in the investigation following the IDF's announcement, per BBC News. The foundation stated: "These reported investigations, even if they do occur, should not be mistaken for a genuine step toward justice," according to BBC News. The Hind Rajab Foundation also stated that Israel's internal investigations were "fundamentally flawed and cannot be regarded as credible mechanisms of accountability," per BBC News.

The IDF stated: "As part of the IDF's obligations under international law and Israeli domestic law, the IDF examines exceptional incidents that occurred during combat," per BBC News.