Israel Opens Criminal Probes Into Hind Rajab, Palestinian Medic Killings

The Israeli military said on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) that it would launch criminal investigations into the killings of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and 15 Palestinian paramedics during the war in Gaza, two cases that gained international attention.

The military said it had completed reviews of 150 incidents involving the conduct of its troops in Gaza and had made decisions in five cases. The military said it would launch criminal investigations into the killing of Rajab and the 15 paramedics, while 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.

According to Reuters, the military's statement did not mention other high-profile killings that it had pledged to investigate during the war. It also did not refer to an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza in August 2025 that killed five journalists, including Mariam Dagga, a visual journalist who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news organisations.

Rajab was killed alongside her relatives in February 2024 while they were trying to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive. Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying Hind, her four cousins, and her aunt and uncle.

Hind's cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, telling them that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed. Seconds later, more gunshots were heard and Layan's screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call.

Hind was the sole survivor in the car. The Red Crescent stayed in contact with her as it tried to get permission from the military to rescue her. Contact was later lost. Hind, her five relatives and two medics were found dead 12 days later.

The other case concerns the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics in May 2025, after Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah and later buried the bodies in a mass grave.

Troops first shot at an ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive. Several other emergency vehicles then went out to look for the first ambulance and came under fire, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings.

Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

According to Reuters, the Israeli military initially said it had opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals. It later backtracked from that account after footage emerged showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible.

“We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world,” Eid Azizi, a Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson, told the Associated Press in a phone call. “We shouldn't have reached this point if they respected and followed the international humanitarian law.”

Both the killing of Rajab in February 2024 and the killing of the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 gained international attention, according to Reuters.