Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it will initiate internal investigations into the deaths of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in Gaza. However, human rights organizations have pointed out that such inquiries seldom result in convictions.
The military stated that these investigation decisions were made following inquiries by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, with resolutions issued for five incidents involving Palestinian fatalities. Among these incidents was the assessment of the deaths of seven aid workers affiliated with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military concluded that there was no basis for suspecting criminal misconduct warranting a criminal investigation in that particular case.
Highlighting the extensive combat activities undertaken by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) over more than a thousand days across various fronts, the military emphasized its commitment to examining exceptional incidents that occurred during combat as part of its obligations under international and domestic laws.
The killings of Hind Rajab in February 2024 and the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 garnered significant international attention. Nevertheless, Israeli rights groups have raised concerns that investigations into alleged criminal misconduct by Israeli troops in connection with Palestinian deaths rarely lead to convictions.
Spokespersons for the Israeli rights organization Yesh Din have pointed out that very few indictments are issued relative to the number of complaints against soldiers and commanders for offenses. When convictions do occur, the sentences are often perceived as disproportionately lenient compared to the gravity of the crimes committed.
Reacting to the military’s announcement, Hind Rajab’s grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, expressed shock, stating that the family lacks trust in Israel’s ability to conduct a fair investigation. She urged other countries to look into the circumstances surrounding her granddaughter’s death and those of other children in Gaza, demanding accountability for the killing of Hind and underscoring the rights of all children in Gaza.
According to UNICEF, as of last October, at least 64,000 Palestinian children had been killed or injured since the onset of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. Additionally, a report from the United Nations Human Rights Council in June implicated Israeli security forces in the deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children in Gaza, a claim vehemently rejected by Israel as propaganda.
During an Israeli offensive in response to a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, Hind Rajab found herself trapped in a car for hours, pleading for help from Palestinian medics via mobile phone while her aunt, uncle, and three cousins had already perished. Despite efforts to reach her, communication was lost upon the arrival of an ambulance. Twelve days later, the bodies of Hind, her relatives, and two ambulance workers were recovered.
A documentary depicting Hind Rajab’s tragic ordeal generated global outrage, winning the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and receiving an Academy Award nomination. In March 2025, the bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers from organizations such as the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense, and the United Nations were discovered in a grave in the southern Gaza Strip, prompting calls for accountability and justice from UN officials.
While Israeli forces have denied intentionally targeting civilians in the Gaza conflict, they argue that Hamas puts civilian lives at risk by using them as shields. The Israeli military initially refrained from commenting directly on the deaths of the Red Crescent workers, later indicating that they facilitated the retrieval of the bodies from an active combat zone. Questions about the circumstances of the recovery and the condition of the vehicles remained unanswered.
Red Crescent media director, Eid Aziz, emphasized the importance of safeguarding medical personnel and upholding international laws protecting humanitarian workers, stressing that incidents like these should be prevented rather than investigated after the fact.
