Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it will conduct internal investigations into the deaths of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in Gaza. This decision follows inquiries by the military’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which examined five incidents involving Palestinian casualties.
Among the incidents reviewed was the killing of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military stated that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing warranting a criminal investigation in this case.
The Israeli military emphasized that it has been engaged in extensive combat operations across multiple fronts for over a thousand days, facing complex challenges. It stated that, in compliance with international and domestic laws, it scrutinizes exceptional incidents occurring during combat.
Both the deaths of Hind Rajab and the 15 Palestinian medics garnered international attention. However, Israeli rights groups assert that investigations into Israeli troops for criminal misconduct rarely result in convictions.
The grandmother of Hind Rajab expressed shock at the announcement of the investigations, stating that the family does not trust Israel to conduct a fair inquiry. She called for other countries to investigate the deaths of her granddaughter and other children in Gaza, demanding accountability for the killing of Hind and emphasizing the rights of all Gaza children.
UNICEF reported last October that at least 64,000 Palestinian children had been killed or injured since the start of the Gaza conflict in October 2023.
A United Nations Human Rights Council report in June accused Israeli security forces of deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children in Gaza. Israel refuted the report, dismissing it as propaganda.
During Israel’s response to a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, Hind Rajab was trapped in a car for hours, pleading with Palestinian medics for help via phone while her relatives lay dead nearby. The bodies of Hind, her family members, and two ambulance workers were recovered twelve days later.
A film depicting Hind Rajab’s tragic death won acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and received an Academy Award nomination, drawing international attention to the incident.
In March 2025, the bodies of 15 aid workers, including members of the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense, and the United Nations, were discovered in a grave in southern Gaza. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher demanded answers and justice, stating that the workers were killed by Israeli forces while attempting to save lives.
Israeli forces deny deliberately targeting civilians in the Gaza conflict, attributing civilian casualties to Hamas using them as shields.
The Red Crescent emphasized the protection of its medical staff under international law, stressing that such humanitarian workers must be safeguarded in their duties.
The Israeli military did not provide immediate comments on the deaths of the Red Crescent workers but later stated that it facilitated the evacuation of the bodies from the combat zone. Questions regarding the circumstances of the recovery were not directly addressed.
Eid Aziz, the media director for the Red Crescent, highlighted the importance of preventing such incidents, emphasizing the protection of medical personnel carrying out humanitarian work.
