Israel confirms troops killed Hind Rajab, opens criminal probe
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- The IDF confirmed for the first time that its troops fired on the car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab, killed in Gaza in 2024 along with six relatives, and announced a criminal investigation into her killing and the two paramedics killed when the Red Crescent ambulance dispatched to rescue her was shelled—despite prior coordination with the Israeli army.
- The IDF also opened a criminal investigation into the March 23, 2025 killing of 15 Palestinians, including medics and a UN worker, in Rafah's Tal al-Sultan area, after a video on a dead paramedic's phone showed the convoy was using emergency lights—contradicting the IDF's initial account that the vehicles were driving dark with headlights off.
- The IDF declined to open criminal investigations in three other cases: the 2024 killing of seven World Central Kitchen employees in Deir al-Balah and two incidents that killed four Médecins Sans Frontières staff, despite acknowledging soldiers fired in the WCK strike.
- Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed 'outrage' over the decision not to prosecute those responsible for the death of Australian WCK aid worker Zomi Frankcom, called in the Israeli ambassador, and said the outcome 'falls far short of the accountability we expect.'
- The Hind Rajab Foundation and Israeli rights group Yesh Din both rejected the probe's credibility, with Yesh Din's Ziv Stahl noting that 'almost no indictments are filed' against soldiers and that convictions carry 'disproportionately lenient sentences' relative to the offences.
- The announcement is the first comprehensive IDF report on alleged war crimes since the Gaza war began and comes as the IDF faces pressure from the International Criminal Court to demonstrate it can hold its own forces accountable.
Why it matters: Israel is under mounting ICC pressure to prove it can self-investigate war crimes, but the same announcement that opens one criminal probe closes three others—including the high-profile WCK and MSF killings that drew international condemnation. With Yesh Din's data showing almost no indictments result from these reviews, the framework's credibility gap directly affects Israel's defense against international legal action.
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