Israel’s military announced plans on Wednesday to conduct internal investigations into the deaths of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024 and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025 in Gaza. Despite this, rights groups expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of such investigations in leading to convictions.
The military stated that these decisions were made following inquiries by its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which reviewed five incidents involving Palestinian fatalities. Among these incidents was the examination of the deaths of seven aid workers affiliated with the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The military concluded that there was no basis for initiating a criminal investigation due to the lack of evidence of misconduct.
Highlighting the challenging operational environment faced by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) over the past years, the military emphasized its commitment to international and domestic legal obligations by scrutinizing exceptional incidents during combat.
The killings of Hind Rajab in February 2024 and the 15 Palestinian medics in May 2025 garnered global attention. However, Israeli rights groups raised concerns over the low conviction rate of Israeli soldiers involved in such incidents, citing a lack of accountability.
Reacting to the announcement, Hind Rajab’s grandmother expressed disbelief and lack of trust in Israel’s investigative process, urging other nations to probe the circumstances surrounding her granddaughter’s death and the treatment of children in Gaza.
Recent reports from UNICEF and the United Nations Human Rights Council have shed light on the toll of the conflict on Palestinian children in Gaza, with thousands reported killed or injured since the war’s outbreak in 2023. While accusations of deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children have been leveled against Israeli security forces, Israel has dismissed these claims as propaganda.
The tragic ordeal of Hind Rajab, who pleaded for help while trapped during an Israeli offensive in 2023, along with the recovery of the aid workers’ bodies from a grave in 2025, has sparked outrage and calls for justice. The Red Crescent workers’ deaths have prompted demands for accountability and protection of humanitarian personnel under international law.
Efforts to uncover the truth behind these incidents continue, with the hope that justice will prevail and similar tragedies will be prevented in the future.