Israeli forces have, for the first time, accepted that they killed five-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, reversing their earlier denials, and announced they had ordered a criminal investigation into her killing.
Israel said on Wednesday that it will open internal criminal investigations over its troops' killings in Gaza of Rajab on January 29, 2024, and 15 emergency and aid workers in March 2025.
Israel had previously denied involvement in the killings, saying months later that a preliminary probe found its forces were "not present near the vehicle or within firing range."
Rajab was one of seven family members travelling in a vehicle in northern Gaza when they came under Israeli fire.
She survived the initial shooting and pleaded on the phone for hours with Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics to rescue her.
An ambulance dispatched to save her also came under fire.
Her body was found 12 days later in a car riddled with bullets after she was last heard from in a desperate, hours-long phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent
Recordings of Rajab's call with paramedics drew international outrage, fuelling demands for accountability for her death and those of thousands of other children killed in Gaza.
A film based on the incident, "The Voice of Hind Rajab", was nominated for an Oscar in 2026.
In its statement, the Israeli forces said:
"Following review of the findings and due to alleged 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 the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division."
Israel has waged a genocide in Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and injuring over 174,000, most of them women and children.
Mediators continue efforts to advance implementation of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10, 2025.
Israeli violations of the agreement have led to the deaths of 1,266 Palestinians and the wounding of 4,200.
