Hind Rajab killing: Israel acknowledges troops opened fire
Shafaq News- Gaza
Israel’s military has acknowledged that its forces opened fire on the car carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024, reversing its earlier account.
The military said on Wednesday that an internal review by its Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism found that Israeli troops fired at the vehicle as it approached their position and later fired a shell at a Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance sent to rescue Rajab. The army cited possible failures in coordinating the ambulance’s movement and referred the case for a criminal investigation.
The Hind Rajab Foundation said it had “no confidence” in the Israeli military’s decision to open the investigations.
🚨 BREAKING – The #HindRajabFoundation has no confidence in the Israeli military’s reported decision to open criminal investigations into the murder of Hind Rajab, six members of her family, and the two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics dispatched to rescue them on January 29,…
— The Hind Rajab Foundation (@HindRFoundation) August 19, 2026
What Happened to Hind Rajab?
Rajab and six relatives tried to flee fighting in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood on January 29, 2024. Israeli fire struck their car, leaving the five-year-old trapped inside with her relatives. Her cousin Layan Hamada survived the initial shooting and called the PRCS for help before she was killed, leaving Rajab alone in the vehicle. She remained on the phone with PRCS dispatchers for hours, pleading for someone to rescue her. After coordinating the ambulance’s movement, the organization sent paramedics Yusuf Al-Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun to the scene but subsequently lost contact with them.
Twelve days later, on February 10, Hind Rajab’s body was found alongside those of six relatives. The bodies of Al-Zeino and Al-Madhoun were found in their destroyed ambulance nearby.
International Scrutiny
The PRCS accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the ambulance despite prior coordination for its movement, while the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies mourned the two paramedics and called for humanitarian and medical personnel to be protected.
Amnesty International has continued to highlight Rajab’s case, saying Israeli forces killed her, her relatives and the two paramedics sent to rescue her.
More than 21,000 children have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian Health Ministry Director-General Munir Al-Barsh.
