Israeli military finally admits to firing on car carrying Hind Rajab

Israel’s military has admitted for the first time that its forces were responsible for killing five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza and said it would investigate the incident criminally.

Rajab was killed on January 29, 2024, after the vehicle carrying her family came under Israeli fire in northern Gaza. She survived the initial attack but was trapped inside the car and spent hours speaking to Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics by phone as she pleaded for help.

An ambulance sent to evacuate her also came under fire.

Rajab’s body was recovered 12 days later from the vehicle, which was found riddled with bullets. The deaths of her family members and the emergency workers sent to rescue her drew widespread international attention.

Israel had previously rejected allegations that its forces were responsible. An earlier military assessment said Israeli troops were not near the vehicle and were not within firing range at the time.

The military said on Wednesday that it had now decided to launch a criminal investigation following a review of the incident. It attributed the decision partly to what it described as failures in coordinating the movement of the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance.

The military is also opening criminal investigations into the deaths of 15 emergency and aid workers killed in Gaza in March 2025.