Israel opens criminal probes over killings of Hind Rajab and Gaza rescue workers

In Gaza, a six-year-old Palestinian girl named Hind Rajab, along with several family members, was tragically killed when their car was fired upon by Israeli troops in January 2024, according to AFP imagery. The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it will launch internal investigations into the killings of the young girl and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025. However, rights groups doubt that such probes typically result in convictions.

The military stated that the decisions to investigate were based on examinations carried out by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which reviewed five incidents involving Palestinian deaths. One of these incidents involved the killing of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military concluded that there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify opening a criminal investigation.

For over a thousand days, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been engaged in intense combat operations across multiple fronts, carrying out a range of military missions in a complex operational environment. The IDF conducts investigations into exceptional incidents that occur during combat as part of its obligations under both international law and Israeli domestic law.

Israeli rights organizations argue that criminal misconduct investigations against Israeli troops for killing Palestinians rarely lead to convictions. Indictments are nearly nonexistent compared to the number of complaints filed against soldiers and commanders who commit offenses. When convictions do occur, they often result in lenient sentences that do not match the seriousness of the offense, according to a spokesperson for the Israeli rights organization Yesh Din.

During Israel's offensive in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, Hind Rajab was trapped in a car for hours, desperately calling Palestinian medics for help via a mobile phone. Her aunt, uncle, and three cousins had already been killed. When an ambulance finally arrived, contact with the girl and the rescuers was lost. Twelve days later, their bodies were recovered from the area.