The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that it has launched its first criminal investigations into the conduct of its troops during the ongoing war in Gaza. The probes specifically focus on the deaths of 6-year-old Hind Rajab and two Palestinian paramedics who were dispatched to rescue her.
The incident occurred in early 2024 after Hind Rajab became trapped in a vehicle with deceased relatives following Israeli fire. According to reports from the time, the girl remained on the phone with dispatchers for hours, pleading for help while surrounded by the bodies of family members. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was eventually cleared to reach her, but it was subsequently struck, resulting in the deaths of the two paramedics.
These investigations mark the first time the Israeli military has opened criminal inquiries into specific operational incidents involving civilian deaths since the conflict began. The military stated that the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division will examine whether soldiers followed legal protocols and rules of engagement during the events in Gaza City.
The scale of the investigation involves at least two distinct events occurring on the same day in a concentrated area of Gaza City. To the broader population in Gaza and the international community, the proceedings will serve as a test of the Israeli military's self-regulatory legal system. A criminal probe is a more severe step than a preliminary fact-finding assessment and can lead to indictments in military courts, which would impact the legal rights and career standing of the soldiers involved.
Beyond the immediate cases, these probes set a precedent for how the Israeli military will handle hundreds of other reported incidents of civilian harm during the war. Human rights organizations and foreign governments have previously called for independent inquiries; the military's decision to handle these internally will likely influence future diplomatic discussions regarding war crimes allegations. The military did not provide a deadline for the completion of the investigations or a date for when findings would be made public.