Overview
- The Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, that military prosecutors have ordered criminal investigations by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division into the January 29, 2024, killing of five‑year‑old Hind Rajab and into the March 2025 attack that killed 15 Palestinians including medics.
- For the first time the military acknowledged it fired on the vehicle carrying Hind Rajab, and its review cited alleged failures in coordinating the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance that reached the scene and in which two paramedics were killed.
- The Rafah inquiry stems from an incident in March 2025 in which troops fired on multiple emergency vehicles, then crushed the wrecks and covered bodies with metal mesh, and the military said the shootings raise a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.
- At the same time prosecutors declined to open criminal probes into three other high‑profile aid‑worker deaths, including the April 2024 World Central Kitchen strike and two Doctors Without Borders incidents, saying commanders’ actions did not meet the criminal threshold though some commanders were dismissed or reprimanded.
- The moves come under heavy international scrutiny after a September 2025 UN commission alleged grave violations and as NGOs press foreign legal avenues, including a Hind Rajab Foundation complaint filed in India, and may increase pressure for independent investigations given the low conviction rate in past IDF probes.