IDF Opens Criminal Investigation Into Killing of 5-Year-Old Hind Rajab, Admits Troops Fired on Her Family's Car

The Israeli military ordered a criminal investigation into the January 2024 killing of 5-year-old Hind Rajab, acknowledging for the first time that its troops fired on the vehicle carrying Rajab's family — reversing its earlier claim that no forces were present in the area. Rajab's final moments, pleading with Palestine Red Crescent dispatchers by phone as she hid in the car surrounded by the bodies of six relatives, drew global outrage after the recording was released. The IDF said in a statement that, 'following review of the findings and due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident.' The probe is part of the IDF General Staff's Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which has now concluded reviews of 150 incidents since the war began. Rajab's mother, Wesam Hamada, called the investigation a 'long-overdue step' but said 'justice has not yet begun.'