Israel’s military has announced that it will initiate internal investigations into the killings of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in Gaza. Although rights groups have expressed skepticism about the outcomes of such investigations, the military stated that these decisions were based on inquiries conducted by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which examined five incidents involving Palestinian fatalities.
Among the incidents reviewed was the killing of seven aid workers affiliated with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military concluded that there was no substantial evidence of criminal misconduct warranting a criminal investigation in that case. The Israeli military emphasized that over the past thousand days, they have been engaged in intense combat operations across various fronts, operating in a highly complex operational environment. As part of their obligations under international and domestic laws, the military examines exceptional incidents occurring during combat operations.
The deaths of Hind Rajab in February 2024 and the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 drew global attention. However, Israeli rights groups have raised concerns about the lack of convictions resulting from criminal misconduct investigations involving Israeli troops in the deaths of Palestinians. Yesh Din, an Israeli rights organization, highlighted the low rate of indictments compared to the number of complaints filed against soldiers and commanders. They also criticized the leniency of sentences handed down in rare conviction cases.
Reacting to the announcement of the investigations, Hind Rajab’s grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, expressed shock and mistrust in Israel’s ability to conduct a fair inquiry. She called for other countries to investigate the circumstances surrounding her granddaughter’s death and those of other children in Gaza, emphasizing the need for accountability for the killing of innocent civilians.
In related developments, UNICEF reported last October that over 64,000 Palestinian children had been killed or injured since the start of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. Additionally, a recent United Nations Human Rights Council report accused Israeli security forces of deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children in Gaza, a claim that Israel has rejected as propaganda.
During the Israeli offensive following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, Hind Rajab was trapped in a car for hours, pleading for help from Palestinian medics via phone while her family members lay dead nearby. The subsequent discovery of her body, along with her relatives and two ambulance workers, sparked international outrage and led to the production of a film that received prestigious awards and nominations. In March 2025, the bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers were recovered from a grave in southern Gaza, with UN officials demanding answers and justice for their deaths allegedly caused by Israeli forces.
The Red Crescent and other aid organizations condemned the killings, urging respect for international laws protecting medical personnel. While the Israeli military facilitated the retrieval of the bodies from an active combat zone, questions remain unanswered regarding the circumstances and reasons behind the deaths of these humanitarian workers. The Red Crescent emphasized the importance of preventing such tragic incidents and ensuring the safety of medical staff carrying out their duties amidst conflict situations.