Israel admits its troops killed 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, opens criminal probe
The Palestinian girl died after being trapped in a car for hours while begging for help, in one of the highest-profile incidents in the war
Israel’s military acknowledged on Wednesday that its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and her family members in Gaza in 2024 and said it had opened a criminal investigation, though rights groups say such probes rarely lead to convictions.
Hind Rajab’s killing was one of the most high-profile incidents involving civilian deaths during Israel’s military assault in Gaza, launched following the 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.
She died after being pinned down in a car for hours, begging Palestinian medical workers by mobile phone to send help, while her aunt, uncle and three cousins already lay dead.
An ambulance was dispatched, but soon after it arrived at the scene the dispatchers lost contact with both the girl and the responders. Twelve days later, the bodies of the girl, her relatives and two ambulance workers were recovered from the area.
The military previously denied its troops had been in the area near where she was killed. On Wednesday, it said that following a months-long probe by an internal fact-finding mechanism, it found that troops opened fire at her vehicle as it was approaching them.
It said a shell was later fired at a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance that had been dispatched to save her.