Israeli military changes its account

The Israeli military has acknowledged for the first time that its forces fired on a vehicle carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, more than two years after the child was killed.

The Israel Defense Forces had previously denied that its troops were involved. A preliminary investigation released months after the January 2024 incident said Israeli forces were not near the vehicle and were not within firing range.

The military has now said that its latest review found that IDF troops did fire at a vehicle that was approaching them. It has also announced a criminal investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.

The investigation follows what the military described as apparent failures in coordinating the movement of a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance that was sent to rescue Hind.

A child trapped in a car

Hind was traveling with six members of her family in northern Gaza when their vehicle came under Israeli fire.

The 5-year-old survived the initial shooting and remained trapped inside the vehicle. During a phone call with Palestinian emergency responders, she pleaded for help as rescuers attempted to reach her.

An ambulance dispatched to the scene also came under fire, according to accounts surrounding the incident.

Twelve days later, Hind’s body was discovered inside the vehicle, which was heavily damaged by gunfire. Other members of her family were also found dead.

Recordings of Hind’s calls with emergency workers later received international attention and became a focal point for calls for an investigation into her death.

Family demands independent investigation

Hind’s mother, Wesam Hamada, described the military’s decision to open a criminal investigation as a long-overdue development but said it did not amount to justice.

Hamada has called for an independent and transparent investigation, arguing that those responsible should face genuine accountability.

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour has also criticized previous Israeli military investigations, saying they were not sufficiently independent or credible. He said a credible investigation should ultimately lead to the arrest of those responsible if wrongdoing is established.

The Hind Rajab Foundation has similarly questioned the record of Israeli military investigations, arguing that many cases have ended without significant prosecution or punishment.

Investigation into wider Gaza incidents

The investigation into Hind’s death is part of a broader review by the IDF’s General Staff Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism into alleged violations during the Gaza war.

The mechanism examined 150 incidents and transferred the cases to the military’s top legal authority for decisions on whether criminal investigations should be opened.

Alongside the Hind Rajab case, the military announced a criminal investigation into the March 2025 deaths of 15 Palestinian paramedics and first responders. The group had been traveling in ambulances and other emergency vehicles when they were killed.

The IDF previously said the vehicles had been behaving suspiciously because they lacked headlights and emergency signals. Video footage later appeared to contradict that account, showing emergency vehicles traveling with their lights flashing.

In its latest statement, the military said the circumstances surrounding the shooting raised a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.

Dispute over attacks on humanitarian workers

However, the military decided not to open criminal investigations into three other incidents involving humanitarian organizations.

Those cases include the April 2024 killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers in Deir al-Balah, a February 2024 strike on a Doctors Without Borders shelter in Khan Younis that killed two employees, and a November 2023 attack on a Doctors Without Borders convoy that killed two more employees.

In the World Central Kitchen case, the IDF said its investigation identified serious operational failures that led soldiers to mistakenly believe the humanitarian convoy had been taken over by Hamas fighters.

The military advocate-general nevertheless concluded that there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct requiring a criminal investigation.

World Central Kitchen strongly criticized that decision, arguing that the findings did not adequately account for what the organization said was the clearly identifiable and unarmed nature of its humanitarian team.

Australia also criticized the decision because Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom was among those killed. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the outcome did not meet Australia’s expectations for accountability and said the government would continue pressing Israel over the deaths.

A case that drew global attention

Hind Rajab’s death has become one of the most widely known individual cases connected to the Gaza war.

The recordings of the young girl’s desperate calls to emergency responders drew international attention and prompted renewed demands for accountability over civilian deaths.

A film inspired by the case, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” was also nominated for an Oscar in 2026.

The newly announced criminal investigation marks a significant change from the Israeli military’s earlier position on the incident. Its eventual findings will determine whether individuals are formally prosecuted and what responsibility, if any, is established.

Source: CNN, “Israeli military admits for first time to firing on car carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab as it opens criminal probe,” by Jeremy Diamond, Abeer Salman and Tal Shalev, updated August 20, 2026.