Hind Rajab first responder says investigations must encompass 'all violations' by Israel

Palestinian responder Rana Faqih, who assisted Hind Rajab for several hours before the 5-year-old was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza, told The National that a comprehensive Israeli investigation is necessary. She emphasized that merely opening an investigation into Hind's death is insufficient. Israel admitted to firing on the car carrying Hind and six other family members 934 days after international criticism of Israel's military for the incident that killed the six others.

Faqih stressed that an independent investigation by a neutral committee should probe all violations, targeting, and arrests of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PCRS) staff and volunteers while performing their humanitarian duties. The PCRS has demanded an independent investigation since the beginning and continues to do so. Hind's fate remained unknown for 12 days until Israeli troops withdrew from the area and discovered the bullet-riddled car containing the bodies in Gaza City's Tel Al Hawa district.

The incident occurred after Israeli troops gave permission for a rescue operation carried out by Ahmad Al Madhoun and Youssef Al Zeino. Both ambulances lost contact with PCRS headquarters, and their bodies were later found nearby. Faqih expressed deep pain over a child crying for help waiting for assistance and a paramedic's loss while trying to reach the child.

Gaza has been the world's deadliest place for aid workers for the third consecutive year, with over 1,700 healthcare workers killed and at least 95 still detained by Israel since October 2023. Israel has reviewed 150 killings during the Gaza war through military prosecutors, including Hind's death and the killing of 15 Palestinians in an ambush in March 2025.

However, prosecutors closed three other cases, including an Israeli strike that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers and two Doctors Without Borders staff members killed in Gaza. The WCK condemned the closure of their case, stating it was inconsistent with the truth and offensive. They maintained that the World Central Kitchen workers were unarmed and their whereabouts were known to the Israelis, traveling in a marked humanitarian vehicle.