Israeli army orders criminal probe into killings of Hind Rajab, 5, and paramedics in Gaza

Israel’s military has announced its first criminal investigations into troop conduct in the war in Gaza, focusing on the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and the separate killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics. In an announcement on Wednesday, the military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders. Its statement said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct in Gaza and made decisions on the five cases. The military statement did not mention the many other high-profile killings that Israel has pledged to investigate throughout the war. It did not mention the Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists in August 2025, including Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who freelanced for the AP and other news organizations. Both the killing of Hind and her family, trapped in a vehicle and pleading for help by phone in February 2024, and the killing of 15 medics in May 2025 drew international outcry. Hind was trying to flee Gaza City with four of her cousins, her aunt and uncle, when Israeli troops opened fire on the vehicle they were in. Hind's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, explaining that a tank was approaching and some of her family had been killed. Seconds later, gunshots were heard on the phone call recording with the Red Crescent. Then Layan's screaming stopped. Hind, just five years old, was the only survivor left on the call. Aid workers stayed on the phone with her while trying get permission from the Israeli military to rescue her. The call ended. Twelve days later, Hind Rajab and her five relatives were found dead, along with two medics whose ambulances had been bombed on the way to save her. Remains of the car where Hind and her family's bodies were found. Credit: APTN The story was documented by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania in 'The Voice of Hind Rajab', using Hind's real voice recordings from that phone call. Speaking to ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar in February, Ben Hania said despite criticisms of exploitation, she wanted to honour Hind's voice. An investigation has also been launched by the Israeli military into the deaths of 15 Palestinian paramedics, who were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their Red Crescent ambulances in Gaza's southern city of Rafah. Israeli troops shot at an ambulance which had been sent to retrieve casualties from another offensive. Then when other emergency vehicles were sent to look for the first one, they were fired at too, mobile phone footage shows. The paramedics' bodies were buried in a mass grave, untouched for a week until the IDF allowed a recovery operation. The Voice of Hind Rajab: A film about a child the world heard too late ITV News uncovers new claims that Gaza paramedics shot by IDF were 'executed' ITV News obtained footage from the team who recovered their bodies, showing the hands and legs of a civil defence member had been tied before his death. The Israeli military initially said it opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals. However, it backtracked from that account after the footage emerged, showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defense teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible. "This is an execution,” said one man who helped to retrieve the bodies. Eid Azizi, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson, told the Associated Press in a phone call: “We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world. “We shouldn’t have reached this point if they respected and followed the international humanitarian law.” The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and abducted 251 others. Israel’s ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. That includes at least 1,273 people killed in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October, according to the ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children constitute about half of the dead. Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...