Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it will conduct internal investigations into the killings of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in Gaza. Despite this, human rights organizations point out that such inquiries seldom result in convictions.
The military’s decision to launch investigations was based on assessments conducted by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which looked into five incidents involving Palestinian fatalities. One of these cases involved the deaths of seven aid workers affiliated with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. Following the investigation, the military stated that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a criminal inquiry.
Explaining its actions, the Israeli military emphasized the extensive combat operations it has undertaken over the past thousand days across multiple fronts in a challenging operational environment. It stated that it is obligated by international and domestic laws to scrutinize exceptional incidents arising during combat situations.
The killings of Hind Rajab in February 2024 and the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 garnered international attention. However, Israeli human rights groups assert that investigations into alleged misconduct by Israeli troops resulting in Palestinian deaths rarely lead to prosecutions. They argue that the few convictions secured often result in disproportionately lenient sentences compared to the seriousness of the offenses.
Hind Rajab found herself trapped in a car for hours during Israel’s retaliatory offensive following a Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023. She pleaded for assistance over the phone from Palestinian medics while her aunt, uncle, and three cousins had already perished. Despite her distress calls, communication with the girl and the rescuers was lost when an ambulance eventually arrived. The bodies of Hind Rajab, her family members, and two ambulance workers were discovered in the area twelve days later.