Israeli Military Launches First Criminal Probes into Gaza War Incidents Involving Child and Paramedics

Israel’s defence forces said on Wednesday that they will open criminal investigations into two incidents that drew international criticism: the February 2024 attack on a vehicle carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab, her relatives and two ambulance medics, and the May 2025 shooting of 15 Palestinian paramedics in Rafah. The statement said reviews of 150 conduct cases had been completed and that the five selected cases would be examined.

In the Rajab case, troops fired at a car fleeing an Israeli incursion into Gaza City, killing the child, four cousins and an aunt and uncle. A surviving cousin called the Palestinian Red Crescent, reporting the attack before the line went silent. The military acknowledged that later gunfire struck the ambulance that arrived to rescue the survivors, killing two medics.

The paramedic case involved Israeli forces opening fire on clearly marked emergency vehicles that were attempting to retrieve casualties. Video and survivor testimony showed the vehicles displaying lights and humanitarian logos. After the attack, the bodies and vehicles were reportedly bulldozed into a mass grave, prompting calls for accountability from United Nations officials.

The defence forces also announced that they will not open criminal investigations into three other incidents, including an April 2024 airstrike that hit a World Central Kitchen convoy and two separate strikes that killed Doctors Without Borders staff. The statement said commanders’ decisions in those cases did not constitute criminal misconduct, though some officers were removed or reprimanded.

Family members of Hind Rajab have called for an international inquiry, saying a domestic probe is insufficient. United Nations officials have similarly demanded answers for the paramedic killings. The investigations come nearly three years after the Gaza conflict began and as Israeli strikes continue amid a tentative cease-fire.