Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that it will conduct internal investigations into the deaths of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in January 2024, and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025. However, human rights organizations noted that such inquiries seldom result in convictions.
The military stated that these investigation decisions followed assessments by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism and revealed findings related to five incidents involving Palestinian fatalities. Among these incidents was a review of the deaths of seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military concluded that there was no basis for initiating a criminal investigation due to a lack of suspicion of criminal misconduct.
Emphasizing the complexity of its operational environment, the Israeli military highlighted its commitment to investigating exceptional incidents during combat, in compliance with international and domestic laws. The killings of Hind Rajab in February 2024 and the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 garnered significant international attention.
While Israeli rights groups expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of criminal misconduct investigations involving Israeli troops, citing low conviction rates, a spokesperson for the Israeli rights organization Yesh Din criticized the leniency of sentences in cases where soldiers or commanders are convicted.
Reacting to the military’s announcement, Hind Rajab’s grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, expressed disbelief and lack of trust in Israel’s investigative process, calling for international scrutiny into her granddaughter’s death and the protection of children’s rights in Gaza.
UNICEF reported last October that over 64,000 Palestinian children had been killed or injured since the onset of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. A United Nations Human Rights Council report in June accused Israeli security forces of intentionally targeting and killing Palestinian children in Gaza, a claim that Israel refuted as propaganda.
In a separate incident during Israel’s response to a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, Hind Rajab was trapped in a car for hours, pleading for help via phone while her family members lay dead. The subsequent recovery of the bodies of Hind Rajab, her relatives, and two ambulance workers prompted international outrage and recognition, including a Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for a documentary on her story.
In March 2025, the bodies of 15 emergency and aid workers were discovered in a grave in the south of the Gaza Strip. United Nations officials condemned their deaths, alleging that they were killed by Israeli forces while engaged in life-saving efforts. The Red Crescent criticized the lack of protection for medical personnel under international law.
While the Israeli military denied deliberately targeting civilians during the conflict, it did not provide immediate comments on the deaths of the Red Crescent workers. Calls for accountability and justice resounded from various quarters, underscoring the need for preventive measures to safeguard humanitarian workers in conflict zones.