The Israeli military admitted that its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, according to Theguardian. The incident occurred as the family sought to flee a new Israeli offensive into Gaza City, during which their Kia Picanto car was hit. All other passengers in the vehicle were also killed.
Israeli Military Admits Troops Fired on Car Killing Hind Rajab
Hind died following a desperate three-hour phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024, in which she pleaded for rescue. During the call, operator Rana Faqih stayed on the line with the child, telling her to hide under the seats. The sound of Hind’s voice haunted Red Crescent operators long after her death as she described seeing tanks directly in front of the car and told operators it was getting dark. The line eventually disconnected.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had repeatedly denied its troops had been present in the area near the incident. However, investigations by media and others found evidence strongly suggesting nearby Israeli tanks were responsible. The killing of Hind and her family was one of the most high-profile civilian casualty incidents during the first months of the Gaza conflict, prompting international outrage, calls for an independent investigation, and a UN commission of inquiry accusing Israel of war crimes, which it denies. The story was also made into an Oscar-nominated film titled The Voice of Hind Rajab, which incorporated original audio recordings of her emergency call.
Criminal Investigation Announced by Military Police
Following a review of the findings, the military announced that it ordered a criminal investigation into the killing to be conducted by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, as reported by the BBC. The IDF stated that its examination indicated troops fired at a vehicle travelling contrary to advanced notice published in an announcement by the IDF Spokesperson to residents of the area. The military stated that initial fire killed five of the passengers, while Hind Rajab and her cousin Layan Hamada survived initially.
The IDF also admitted that troops fired on the ambulance sent to rescue the survivors. The military stated that the movement of a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance had been coordinated to evacuate casualties, but upon its arrival, a shell was fired toward it, resulting in the deaths of the two paramedics traveling inside, Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun. The IDF attributed the action to alleged failures in the coordination of the ambulance’s movement. Criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions.
The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation, a legal organization seeking to address alleged Israeli violations in Gaza, expressed no confidence in the investigation. The foundation stated that the reported investigations should not be mistaken for a genuine step toward justice and that Israel’s internal investigations are fundamentally flawed and cannot be regarded as credible mechanisms of accountability.
Additional Reviews and Other High-Profile Incidents
Among these, the military announced it was launching a criminal probe into the March 2025 killing of 15 Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel near the southern city of Rafah. According to phone footage and a sole survivor, troops lying in ambush for Hamas militants initially shot at an ambulance trying to retrieve casualties, then fired on a series of emergency vehicles approaching their positions before bulldozing over the bodies and vehicles to bury them in a mass grave. Jonathan Whittall, a UN official who helped recover the bodies, stated that the victims were killed in uniform while driving clearly marked vehicles to save lives. Munther Abed, a Palestinian paramedic present at the incident, expressed hope that those who killed his colleagues would face real justice. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated at the time that the incident raised further concerns over the commission of war crimes.
In three other cases examined by the military—including the killing of seven World Central Kitchen employees in Deir al-Balah two years ago, and four employees of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) killed across two incidents—the IDF stated it had not found grounds for criminal investigations. World Central Kitchen strongly disagreed with the Israeli officials’ account and their decision not to pursue a criminal investigation, stating there was no excuse or justification for the attacks.
