More than two years after the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian child shook the world, the Israeli military has officially admitted to firing on the civilian vehicle she was trapped in and has announced a criminal investigation into the incident, following years of denial and intense international scrutiny.

What happened to Hind Rajab?

On January 29, 2024, Hind Rajab and her family attempted to follow Israeli evacuation orders, fleeing their neighbourhood in Gaza City in a black Kia car driven by her uncle.

Her mother, Wissam Hamada, had been separated from her daughter after leaving the area on foot earlier that fateful day.

As they navigated the perilous streets, Israeli forces unleashed a barrage of more than 300 bullets into the vehicle, instantly killing six of her relatives, including her 15-year-old cousin Layan, who had managed to speak to emergency dispatchers before being fatally shot.

Wounded and surrounded by the bodies of her family, the five-year-old Rajab survived for hours, whispering a desperate final plea over the phone to Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) workers: “I’m so scared… Please come.”

In her harrowing final moments, she also begged her mother over the phone, pleading, “Don’t leave me alone, Mama. I am tired. I am thirsty. And I am wounded.”

Double-tap strike

Palestinian paramedics dispatched a clearly marked ambulance to rescue the sole surviving child, after receiving explicit clearance from COGAT, a branch of the Israeli military.

Despite this coordination, the rescue vehicle was struck by a 120mm tank round, killing the two medics in it instantly.

An exhaustive analysis by the global campaign group Avaaz revealed that approximately three hours passed between the initial shooting of the family and the attack on the ambulance, indicating that Israeli forces had ample time for situational awareness and command decision-making.

Avaaz concluded there is substantial evidence of a deliberate “double-tap” tactic – an initial strike followed by a second attack targeting emergency responders – noting that Israel gave no warning before firing on the medical workers.

Sarah Andrew, legal director of Avaaz, emphasised that the timing and weaponry proved it was a calculated strike, stating, “I am absolutely convinced that this is another case of double tap.”

At about 7:30pm that evening, Rajab died of her injuries, still trapped in the car surrounded by the bodies of her relatives.

Unmasking perpetrators

Israel initially deflected blame, claiming its troops were not in the area and later asserting the 335 bullet holes in the car resulted from a crossfire with Palestinian fighters.

However, an exclusive Al Jazeera documentary titled Ma Khafiya Aatham (Tip of the Iceberg), produced in partnership with the Hind Rajab Foundation, broke the case wide open by revealing new evidence in the killings.

Using satellite imagery and audio analyses conducted alongside the multidisciplinary group Forensic Architecture, the investigation identified several Israeli Merkava tanks directly adjacent to the car, finding zero evidence of any armed exchange.

Building on these findings, the investigation named the “Vampire Empire” company, commanded by Israeli Major Sean Glass, which operates under the 52nd Armoured Battalion led by Colonel Daniel Ella, as directly responsible for the killings and subsequent crime scene tampering.

The overall commander of the tanks present was Lieutenant Colonel Beni Aharon of the 401 Armoured Brigade.

The documentary also highlighted the involvement of dual Israeli-Argentine national Itay Choukirkov, who is facing legal action in Argentina, and self-styled “war influencer” Shimon Zuckerman, whose social media posts provided clear evidence of genocidal intent.

Delayed admission

On May 3, 2025, coinciding with what would have been Hind’s seventh birthday, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a comprehensive war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The legal filing specifically targeted Lieutenant Colonel Aharon and paved the way for additional lawsuits against battalion officers in national jurisdictions.

Following this intense international pressure and reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct, the Israeli military announced a criminal probe into the killing, marking the first time Israel officially acknowledged shooting at the family’s car.

The army claimed its troops fired at an approaching vehicle and cited alleged failures in coordinating the PRCS ambulance’s movement.

Flawed justice

Human rights organisations and the victim’s family have rejected the internal Israeli investigation as offering only an illusion of accountability.

Hind Hamada Rajab, the child’s grandmother, has said she does not trust the investigations nor the Israeli judiciary, demanding an independent international probe into the killing of her granddaughter and her family.

Furthermore, she told The Associated Press news agency by phone that their demand extends beyond Rajab to include justice for all Palestinian children killed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, asserting that the attack on this civilian vehicle was deliberate.

Meanwhile, Rajab’s mother, Wissam Hamada, continues to travel to several cities globally to speak out about the unimaginable impact of Israel’s war on children, even though she is unable to watch the critically acclaimed Oscar-nominated docudrama about her daughter’s death because hearing Rajab’s voice remains too painful.

Dyab Abou Jahjah, president of the Hind Rajab Foundation, echoed this sentiment, arguing that the system as a whole has always been complicit in Israeli crimes.

“We do not trust the Israeli justice system, not out of an ideological position, but because of the track record,” Abou Jahjah stated.

Supporting this scepticism, Dan Owen, a researcher at the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din, noted that only a “tiny percentage” of investigations have resulted in indictments over the past decade, adding that mounting political pressure increases the reluctance of Israeli law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable, even when clear evidence exists.