More than two years after Hind Rajab was killed, becoming a symbol of the suffering of children in Gaza, Israel\u2019s military, long accused of the atrocity, has announced a criminal investigation into the death of the five-year-old girl.<\/p>\n
At first, Israel denied that its soldiers were even in the area where she was killed. After journalistic investigations, including by Al Jazeera, Israel\u2019s army said it had raided \u201cterror targets\u201d in Gaza City that day. In January this year, Israeli officials said they were reviewing the case.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
The military said in a statement on Wednesday that the criminal investigation into Rajab\u2019s killing was decided on following a review of the findings \u201cand due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance\u201d.<\/p>\n
On January 29, 2024, at about 7:30pm, Rajab died of her injuries while she was trapped in a car surrounded by the bodies of her relatives, after her family was forcibly displaced hours earlier from Gaza City. They had attempted to follow Israeli orders to leave, but on their way, Israel\u2019s army fired more than 300 bullets at the black Kia driven by Rajab\u2019s uncle. Her 15-year-old cousin Layan was also in the car and spoke to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) workers by phone before she was killed.<\/p>\n
PRCS workers attempted to save Rajab, but were blocked from reaching her by Israeli forces. Palestinian paramedics dispatched an ambulance to rescue the child, the sole survivor, and stayed on the line until contact was lost.<\/p>\n
The military said on Wednesday that troops had \u201cfired at a vehicle that was approaching them\u201d. It is the first time Israel has admitted shooting at the car.<\/p>\n
But criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli \u2060troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions.<\/p>\n
\u2018Complicit\u2019<\/p>\n
Decades of Israeli crimes against Palestinians have not delivered any serious form of justice, according to the president of the Hind Rajab Foundation, Dyab Abou JahJah, who does not believe this case will change that.<\/p>\n
The foundation said it had no confidence in Israel\u2019s decision to launch a criminal probe into Rajab\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not trust the Israeli justice system, not out of an ideological position, but because of the track record,\u201d Abou Jahjah told Al Jazeera. \u201cAnd in this particular case, the Israeli justice system as a whole has always been complicit in Israeli crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rajab\u2019s grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, told The Associated Press news agency by phone that the Israeli investigation is not enough, and called for an international probe into the killing of her granddaughter and all of the thousands of children killed in Gaza during the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn international investigation is required to uncover the truth and hold all those responsible accountable,\u201d she said. \u201cWe call for justice, not only for Hind, but for all Gaza children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rajab\u2019s last words, her recorded pleas for help by phone, were widely shared on social media and led to international condemnation. A 2024 Al Jazeera investigation into the killing of Rajab and her family revealed that an Israeli tank was likely 13 to 23 metres (43 to 75ft) away and would have clearly seen the civilians inside the car. A docu-drama on the killing of Hind Rajab was nominated at the 2026 Oscars for best international feature film.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Hani Mahmoud, reporting in Gaza, said this sentiment is shared among Palestinians. \u201cPeople here who are hearing about the investigation are sceptical that it will bring any justice to Hind and her family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Intentional\u2019 killings<\/p>\n
Announcing its first criminal probes of troop conduct in Gaza, Israel\u2019s military said the case of Rajab and her family members in early 2024 would be reviewed, as well as the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in March 2025. Both incidents gained international attention.<\/p>\n
The announcement followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, it said, but added that the military would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from the World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive,\u201d World Central Kitchen wrote on its website, disagreeing with the statement by the Israeli forces.<\/p>\n
Israel \u201cknew that our team in Gaza was unarmed,\u201d said the non-profit, which provides people in need with fresh food. \u201cThe military investigation conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame for the [Israeli army\u2019s] illegal conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia on Thursday summoned Israel\u2019s ambassador over the decision not to pursue criminal proceedings over the World Central Kitchen killings. Australian national Zomi Frankcom was among those killed.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the decision \u201cfalls far short of the accountability we expect\u201d, adding that Australia was \u201coutraged\u201d by it.<\/p>\n
In April 2024, seven international aid workers and a Palestinian driver were killed by three Israeli air strikes, despite driving in clearly marked cars and sharing their coordinates with the Israeli army.<\/p>\n
An Al Jazeera investigation revealed the killings were intentional, directly opposing statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that described the targeting as \u201cunintentional\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than two years after Hind Rajab was killed, becoming a symbol of the suffering of children in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9881,49,590,632,50,9086,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-743637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-gaza","tag-headlines","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-palestine","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}