Israeli military admits for first time to firing on car carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab as it opens criminal probe

The Israeli military acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that it opened fire on the vehicle carrying 5-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza and said it had opened a criminal investigation into the killing.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had previously denied involvement in the January 2024 killing, saying months later that a preliminary investigation found its forces were “not present near the vehicle or within firing range” of the vehicle.

The case is one of two-high profile incidents into which the military has opened criminal investigations. But the military said that it would not probe three other attacks from the early months of the war that killed aid workers.

Hind Rajab’s mother, Wesam Hamada, called the investigation a “long-overdue step,” but she said “justice has not yet begun.” In a statement on Thursday, Hamada said, “I do not want a closed military investigation. I want an independent, transparent investigation and genuine accountability for everyone responsible.”

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour slammed Israel’s past investigations as “not independent and not credible,” telling CNN’s Jim Sciutto that he doesn’t believe this investigation will be any different. A credible investigation, he said, would result in the arrest of those responsible for Rajab’s killing.

Rajab was one of seven family members traveling in a vehicle in northern Gaza on when they came under Israeli fire. Rajab survived the initial fire and pleaded on the phone for hours with Palestinian paramedics to come rescue her. Afterwards, an ambulance dispatched to save her also came under fire.

Twelve days later, Rajab’s body was found in a car riddled with bullets.

“The findings of the examination indicate that IDF troops fired at a vehicle that was approaching them,” the IDF said in a statement.

“Following review of the findings an due to apparent failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.”

The grandmother of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza in 2024, said she did not trust the Israeli judiciary to provide justice, following Israel’s military announcement that it would open a criminal investigation into her death.

The Hind Rajab Foundation said in a statement that investigations by Israeli forces “overwhelmingly end without meaningful examination, prosecution, or punishment. In the small number of cases in which soldiers have been convicted of crimes, the punishments imposed have often been exceptionally lenient or administrative in nature.”

Recordings of Rajab’s call with paramedics gained international attention, driving calls for accountability for her killing and that of thousands of other children in Gaza. A film about the incident, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” was nominated for an Oscar in 2026.

The investigation into Hind Rajab’s death is part of the IDF’s first comprehensive report on alleged war crimes since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

The IDF General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism concluded investigating 150 incidents, which were transferred to the military’s top lawyer to decide on opening criminal investigations. Of the 150 inquiries, five decisions were published on Wednesday, while the others await a decision from the military advocate-general.

The IDF also announced it has launched a criminal investigation into the March 2025 killing of 15 paramedics and first responders who were traveling in ambulances and other emergency response vehicles.

The IDF initially claimed the vehicles were driving suspiciously without headlights or emergency signals, which was later directly contradicted by video of the convoy of vehicles traveling with flashing lights. The group were buried in a mass grave along with their emergency vehicles.

The Israeli military subsequently acknowledged “professional failures” in the incident and insisted there had been “no ethical gaps.” But in its statement on Wednesday, the IDF said “the firing conducted during the incident raises a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.”

In three other incidents, the military determined there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct to justify opening a criminal investigation: the April 2024 killing of the seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers in Deir El-Balah, a February 2024 strike on a Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) shelter in Khan Younis that killed two employees, and a November 2023 strike on an MSF convoy which killed two additional employees.

In the attack that killed the WCK employees, the IDF said it found “serious failures” in the process that mistakenly led the military to believe the humanitarian convoy was taken over by a group of Hamas fighters. But the military advocate-general did not find “reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct,” the IDF said.

In a statement, WCK blasted the decision not to open a criminal investigation, calling it “inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive.”

“At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody. It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities and activities in advance.

Australia too, expressed outrage at the Israeli decision not to pursue criminal proceedings for those behind the attack that killed WCK employees, including Australian national Zomi Frankcom .

“Zomi represented the best of Australia. Her courage deserves to be celebrated. Her family deserves justice,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement on Thursday. “This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect.”

Wong said she would call in the Israeli ambassador to Australia, and has told Australia’s envoy to Israel to convey Canberra’s views to the Israeli government directly. The Australian foreign minister said her government would “not step pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues .”

The military investigation conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame for the IDF’s illegal conduct,” WCK said.

CNN’s Hilary Whiteman and Hira Humayun contributed to this report.

以色列军方周三首次承认，他们向载有 5 岁女孩 Hind Rajab 的车辆在加沙开火，并表示已对这起杀戮事件展开刑事调查。

以色列国防军（IDF）此前否认参与了 2024 年 1 月的杀戮事件，并在几个月后表示，初步调查发现其部队“不在车辆附近或车辆的射击范围内”。

这是军方已展开刑事调查的两起备受瞩目的事件之一。但军方表示，不会对战争初期导致援助人员丧生的另外三起袭击事件进行调查。

欣德·拉贾布的母亲韦萨姆·哈马达称这项调查是“姗姗来迟的一步”，但她表示“正义尚未开始”。哈马达在周四的一份声明中说：“我不想要一场闭门进行的军事调查。我想要的是一场独立、透明的调查，以及对所有责任人的真正问责。”

巴勒斯坦常驻联合国代表里亚德·曼苏尔抨击以色列过去的调查“既不独立也不可信”，并告诉CNN记者吉姆·夏托，他不认为这次调查会有什么不同。他表示，可信的调查应该会将杀害拉贾卜的凶手绳之以法。

拉贾布和她的家人共有七人，当时他们乘坐的车辆在加沙北部行驶，遭到以色列的炮火袭击。拉贾布在最初的炮火中幸存下来，并连续几个小时通过电话恳求巴勒斯坦医护人员前来救援。之后，一辆奉命前去营救她的救护车也遭到了袭击。

十二天后，拉贾布的尸体在一辆布满弹孔的汽车里被发现。

以色列国防军在一份声明中表示：“调查结果表明，以色列国防军士兵向一辆驶近他们的车辆开火。”

“经审查调查结果，鉴于巴勒斯坦红新月会救护车行动协调方面明显存在失误，决定由军事警察刑事调查部门对该事件展开刑事调查。”

2024 年在加沙遇害的巴勒斯坦女孩欣德·拉贾卜的祖母表示，在以色列军方宣布将对她的死因展开刑事调查后，她不相信以色列司法部门能够伸张正义。

欣德·拉贾布基金会在一份声明中表示，以色列军队的调查“绝大多数都以没有进行有意义的审查、起诉或惩罚而告终。在少数士兵被判有罪的案件中，所施加的惩罚往往异常宽大或仅限于行政处罚。”

拉贾布与医护人员的通话录音引起了国际社会的关注，促使人们呼吁追究杀害她以及加沙其他数千名儿童的责任。一部关于此事件的影片《欣德·拉贾布之声》于2026年获得奥斯卡提名。

对欣德·拉贾布之死的调查是自 2023 年 10 月加沙战争开始以来，以色列国防军就涉嫌战争罪行发布的第一份全面报告的一部分。

以色列国防军总参谋部事实调查与评估机制已完成对150起事件的调查，并将案件移交军方首席律师，由其决定是否启动刑事调查。在150起调查中，已有5起案件的决定于周三公布，其余案件仍在等待军方首席律师的裁决。

以色列国防军还宣布，已对 2025 年 3 月发生的 15 名医护人员和急救人员遇害事件展开刑事调查，这些医护人员当时正在救护车和其他应急车辆上。

以色列国防军最初声称这些车辆行驶可疑，未开启车头灯或应急信号灯，但随后一段视频显示车队行驶时闪烁着警示灯，与此说法直接矛盾。这群人及其应急车辆被埋葬在乱葬坑中。

以色列军方随后承认在此次事件中存在“专业失误”，并坚称“不存在任何道德问题”。但以色列国防军在周三的声明中表示，“事件中发生的开火行为令人有理由怀疑存在犯罪行为”。

在另外三起事件中，军方认定没有合理的犯罪行为嫌疑，因此没有理由展开刑事调查：2024 年 4 月，七名世界中央厨房 (WCK) 人道主义援助人员在代尔巴拉赫被杀；2024 年 2 月，无国界医生组织 (MSF) 在汗尤尼斯的一个庇护所遭到袭击，导致两名员工死亡；以及 2023 年 11 月，无国界医生组织车队遭到袭击，导致另外两名员工死亡。

在导致世界解放阵线（WCK）员工丧生的袭击事件中，以色列国防军表示，他们发现处理过程中存在“严重失误”，导致军方错误地认为人道主义救援车队被一群哈马斯武装分子劫持。但以色列国防军称，军方总检察长并未发现“合理的犯罪行为嫌疑”。

世界基督教青年会（WCK）在一份声明中猛烈抨击了不展开刑事调查的决定，称其“与全部事实不符，令人深感愤慨”。

“在致命袭击发生时，以色列国防军知道我们在加沙的团队没有携带武器，对任何人都不构成威胁。在持续多次的空袭中，他们能够清楚地看到我们带有明显标识的人道主义车辆。他们事先就知道我们团队的行动、身份和活动。”

澳大利亚也对以色列决定不对杀害世界劳动党员工（包括澳大利亚公民佐米·弗兰克姆）的幕后黑手提起刑事诉讼表示愤慨。

澳大利亚外交部长黄英贤周四发表声明称：“佐米代表了澳大利亚最优秀的一面。她的勇气值得赞扬。她的家人理应得到公正的对待。这一决定远未达到我们所期望的问责标准。”

黄英贤表示，她将召见以色列驻澳大利亚大使，并已指示澳大利亚驻以色列大使直接向以色列政府转达堪培拉的立场。这位澳大利亚外交部长表示，澳大利亚政府“不会停止向以色列施压，要求其为佐米及其同事伸张正义”。

世界青年大会表示：“军方调查混淆了不同的时间线和事件，混淆了事实，并将以色列国防军非法行为的责任推卸给了其他人。”

CNN的希拉里·怀特曼和希拉·胡马云对本报道亦有贡献。