The Israeli military has, for the first time, admitted that its soldiers fired upon the vehicle of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl, in the Gaza Strip in 2024, resulting in her death and that of six relatives. The military has ordered a criminal investigation into the incident.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) made this admission on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, acknowledging that their soldiers fired on the car carrying the young girl. The incident, which occurred in 2024, also led to a criminal investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinians in March 2025.
In the initial incident involving Hind Rajab, she survived the shooting and spent hours on the phone with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) seeking assistance. However, an ambulance dispatched to her location, which had received coordination approval from the Israeli military, was subsequently hit, killing two paramedics. Hind Rajab’s body was found later.
The IDF initially denied having forces in the area. They later admitted that soldiers had fired on the vehicle, claiming it moved in contravention of a prior warning. The military stated that an investigation was being opened due to allegations of a coordination error with the PRCS.
Furthermore, the IDF has ordered additional criminal investigations into soldiers firing on a convoy of ambulances, fire trucks, and United Nations vehicles in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in March 2025, which resulted in 15 deaths. This investigation was prompted after video footage from the phone of a deceased paramedic contradicted the IDF’s earlier claims that the vehicles were driving without lights in the dark.
Meanwhile, the IDF has decided not to open a criminal investigation into the killings of seven employees of World Central Kitchen and four staff members of Doctors Without Borders, citing insufficient evidence.
The death of Hind Rajab had previously garnered global attention and was the subject of an Academy Award-nominated film titled “The Voice of Hind Rajab.” The United Nations has also cited her case as an example in war crime prosecutions.
Analysts and human rights organizations suggest that the IDF’s move to conduct investigations is an attempt to demonstrate self-scrutiny and reduce pressure from the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din points out that investigations into Israeli soldiers rarely lead to actual punishment, and when they do, the penalties are often lenient relative to the offenses committed.