Israel’s military stated on Wednesday it would initiate criminal investigations concerning two prominent attacks against Palestinians during the conflict in Gaza: the deaths of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family, and fifteen Palestinian paramedics.
The military indicated that it would not launch criminal probes into three separate incidents involving aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.
This news was released in a statement confirming the completion of reviews covering 150 instances of troop conduct in Gaza, resulting in decisions on five specific cases.
The statement did not reference other high-profile killings that the military has pledged to investigate throughout the war. It also omitted mention of Israeli strikes on a southern Gaza hospital in August 2025, which resulted in the deaths of five journalists, including Mariam Dagga, who freelanced for The Associated Press and other news outlets.
The killings generated international condemnation.
Both Rajab's death in February 2024 and the killing of fifteen Palestinian medics in May 2025 attracted global attention.
Rajab was killed with her relatives while attempting to leave Gaza City during an Israeli offensive. Israeli troops fired upon a vehicle transporting Hind, four cousins, and her aunt and uncle. Layan Hamada, one of Hind's cousins who was 15 at the time, contacted the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic center, reporting that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed.
According to the Red Crescent recording of the call, more gunshots were heard seconds later, and Layan’s screaming ceased.
Hind was the only survivor in the vehicle. The Red Crescent maintained contact with her while seeking military permission for a rescue attempt; this contact was subsequently lost. Hind, her five relatives, and two medics were discovered deceased twelve days later.
The fifteen paramedics were killed when Israeli troops fired on their vehicles in Rafah, southern city, after which they were buried in a mass grave. According to phone footage and testimony from the sole survivor of the shootings, troops first targeted an ambulance heading out for casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles searching for it.
Troops subsequently bulldozed over the bodies and their damaged vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers could only access the site a week later to recover the remains.
Initially, the Israeli military claimed it opened fire because the vehicles were "advancing suspiciously" toward nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals. However, this account was retracted after footage surfaced showing Red Crescent and Civil Defense teams driving slowly with their emergency lights flashing and logos visible.
Eid Azizi, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, told the Associated Press during a phone call, “We are not obligated to prove the truth because it is already proven to the whole world. We shouldn’t have reached this point if they respected and followed the international humanitarian law.”
The war's casualties continue to rise.
The conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and abducted 251 others. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ensuing Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza has resulted in over 73,000 deaths.
The ministry reports that at least 1,273 people have died in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains casualty records generally considered reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. While it does not provide a civilian versus militant breakdown, it states that women and children account for approximately half of the deceased.