Israeli military opens criminal probes into Gaza killings of child and aid workers

The Israeli military announced this week that it would open criminal investigations into two of the deadliest incidents involving Palestinian civilians and emergency workers during the Gaza war. The decision came after a sweeping review of 150 separate incidents involving Israeli troops in the territory. Of those 150 cases, the military made determinations about five. Two would proceed to criminal investigation. Three would not.

The first case centers on Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl killed on January 29, 2024, in Gaza City. Israeli forces fired on a car carrying her and her relatives as it approached their position. Five people in the vehicle died immediately. Rajab and her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamada survived the initial shooting. Layan called the Palestinian Red Crescent to report that a tank was approaching and that family members had been killed. Gunshots were heard during the call. Then Layan went silent. Rajab remained on the line with the Red Crescent for hours, trapped inside the car while rescue workers tried to obtain military permission to reach her. The connection was eventually lost. An ambulance sent to extract her was struck by a shell as it arrived at the scene. Twelve days later, the bodies of Hind and seven relatives were recovered from the car, along with two paramedics. The case generated international outcry. The military's report cited "alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance" as the reason for opening a criminal investigation.

The second case involves 15 emergency workers killed on March 23, 2025, in Tel al-Sultan, in northern Rafah. The victims included paramedics from the Red Crescent, members of the Palestinian Civil Defense, and UN personnel. According to phone footage and testimony from the sole survivor, Israeli troops fired on the first ambulance as it drove toward casualties, then opened fire on additional emergency vehicles that arrived afterward. The military's account states that troops were conducting an early morning ambush targeting Hamas militants along a main access route when they fired at what they believed to be a Hamas vehicle. They then shot at other vehicles that appeared at the location. The military report notes that troops subsequently "decided to crush the vehicles and to cover the bodies with metal mesh." UN officials recovered 15 bodies from a grave in the sand near the destroyed vehicles, which were clearly marked. The military acknowledged that six of those killed were identified as Hamas members. It announced a criminal investigation, stating it had "found that the firing conducted during the incident raises a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct."

But the military declined to open criminal investigations into three other attacks. In April 2024, an airstrike killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen, an international aid organization. The military said it had mistakenly identified individuals in the convoy as Hamas militants and that the vehicles had deviated from their planned route. The charity had coordinated its movements with the military, and its vehicles bore clearly visible logos. The military concluded that "the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct." Similarly, the military decided against criminal action in the deaths of four Doctors Without Borders staff members killed in two separate incidents in Gaza City in November 2023 and Khan Younis in February 2024.

Hind Rajab's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, rejected the announcement. She told the Associated Press that an internal military investigation was insufficient. "An international investigation is required to uncover the truth and hold all those responsible accountable," she said. "We call for justice, not only for Hind, but for all Gaza children." Eid Aziz, media director for the Red Crescent, echoed the sentiment. "More important than opening the investigation is that this should have been prevented," he told Reuters. "The Palestinian Red Crescent badge is protected by international laws, and the medical staff must be protected, especially as they execute their duties and humanitarian work."

The announcement comes as violence in Gaza continues despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October of last year. On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on a police station in Gaza City killed at least nine people and wounded more than 20, according to Palestinian health authorities. The military said the strike targeted a Hamas commander it believed was planning attacks against Israeli troops. Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital reported that a woman and a girl were among the dead. Israel also struck a Hamas commander in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza, claiming he participated in the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis and triggered the broader military offensive. That offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. While large-scale fighting has largely subsided, sporadic deadly attacks persist, and recent American efforts to broker a long-term peace agreement have stalled.