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 ۲۰۲۴, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing.
The killing of Hind 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.
Hind died after a desperate three-hour phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on ۲۹ January ۲۰۲۴ in which she pleaded for rescue. The family’s Kia Picanto car had been hit as they sought to flee a new Israeli offensive into Gaza City. All the other passengers were also killed.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly denied its troops had been in the area near the incident, but investigations by media and others found evidence that strongly suggested nearby Israeli tanks were responsible.
Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue Hind 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 ۱۲ days later when Israeli troops withdrew. The IDF also admitted on Wednesday that troops had fired on the ambulance.
“Following 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,” the military said on Wednesday.
Criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions.
The IDF published reviews on Wednesday into four other high-profile incidents in Gaza, saying it was launching a criminal investigation into the killing in near the southern city of Rafah of ۱۵ Palestinian medics and humanitarian personnel in March ۲۰۲۵.
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.
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.
“They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives. This should never have happened,” said Jonathan Whittall, a UN official who helped recover the bodies.
The Israeli military initially said it had opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” 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.
Munther Abed, a Palestinian paramedic who was at the incident in which ۱۵ of his colleagues were killed, said he hoped “those who killed my colleagues, who were like family to me, face justice, real justice”. “I want to say to the whole world, ambulances ۱۰۱ is not a target and they must be protected,” he said referring to the speed dial number for the Red Crescent service in Gaza.
The IDF said it had decided not to open a criminal investigation into the April ۲۰۲۴ airstrikes that hit a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven humanitarian workers from the US-based aid group, which has distributed food in Gaza throughout the war.
The aid group said at the time it had coordinated with the military over the movement of its cars. The vehicles, which had the group’s logo on their roofs visible from the air, were left incinerated and mangled, indicating a series of targeted strikes.
The IDF said on Wednesday it had mistaken several individuals in the vehicles for armed Hamas military operatives, and that the convoy deviated from the previously coordinated route. But it concluded that “the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct”. Two officers were removed from their positions at the time and three others reprimanded.
One of those killed in the strike was Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom. The Australian government has called the deaths a “tragedy and an outrage” and pressed for full accountability and “any appropriate criminal charges”. In February this year the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he had made it clear to Israel and its president, Isaac Herzog, that there be transparency about Israel’s then-ongoing investigation into the incident.
In April this year Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong paid tribute to Frankcom on the second anniversary of her death, saying “people like Zomi are rare and their selflessness should not only be celebrated but protected”.
World Central Kitchen said it strongly disagreed with Israeli officials’ account of the airstrikes and their decision not to pursue a criminal investigation. “There has never been any excuse or justification for the attacks, and there is nothing in this account that does so. The decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive,” it said in a statement.
“At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody. It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities and activities in advance.”
The UK Foreign Office issued a statement on Thursday, saying the UK was “appalled and angry” for the families of John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby, three British citizens who were killed in the attack.
The minister for the Middle East, Stephen Doughty, said: “For more than two years, we have pressed the government of Israel to deliver the justice and accountability that the families deserve. This is not good enough. We have raised this with the Israeli authorities today and will continue to push for urgent answers.”
The military also decided not to take criminal action over the killing of four humanitarian workers from Doctors Without Borders in two separate instances in November ۲۰۲۳ and February ۲۰۲۴. Israel later effectively barred the medical charity from operating in Gaza.
Dan Owen, a researcher at Yesh Din, an Israeli rights organisation, said that over the last decade only a tiny proportion of investigations had led to indictments while growing political pressure “further deters Israeli law-enforcement authorities from holding those responsible accountable, even when clear evidence does exist”.
A UN report published in February described “a pervasive climate of impunity” by Israel in occupied Palestine “in relation to gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law … some constituting war crimes and possibly other international crimes”.
Israeli forces say they never deliberately target civilians in Gaza and accuse Hamas of using civilians to shield its militants.
The IDF said that as part of the its obligations under international law and Israeli domestic law, it examined “exceptional incidents that occurred during combat”. “For more than a thousand days, the IDF has been conducting intensive combat across numerous fronts, carrying out a wide range of military missions in an exceptionally complex operational reality,” it said in a statement.
The war began in October ۲۰۲۳ when Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern Israel, killing ۱,۲۰۰ people, mostly civilians, and abducting ۲۵۰. Israel’s ensuing offensives in Gaza have killed more than ۷۳,۰۰۰, mostly women and children, including more than ۱,۲۰۰ since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October.
On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes killed seven Palestinians. Israeli military officials told local media one strike that killed six had targeted a meeting of Hamas commanders in Gaza City.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far right national security minister, said last weekend that “targeted assassinations should be carried out in Gaza, taking down ۳۰ to ۴۰ every night.”
“Not just those who pose an immediate threat … There are people there who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people,” Ben Gvir told a podcast hosted by a former hostage held by Hamas in Gaza.
