The Israeli military on Wednesday said that it is launching a criminal investigation into the 2024 killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza, AP reported.

In January 2024, Rajab and her family were fleeing Gaza city when their vehicle was allegedly shelled by the Israeli forces. Rajab was trapped inside the car and found dead 12 days later after Israeli forces withdrew from the area. Six of her family members and two paramedics who were trying to rescue them were also killed.

Rajab’s killing became a global symbol of the suffering faced by the children in Gaza because of the conflict.

The incident took place while Israel carried out unprecedented air and ground strikes on Gaza, leaving more than 73,300 persons dead. The Israeli military’s offensive in Gaza had begun in October 2023 after the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 persons during its incursion into southern Israel and took hostages.

The Israel Defense Forces had previously denied involvement in the killing. Months after the incident, it had said that a preliminary probe found that its forces were “not present near the vehicle or within firing range” of the car, CNN reported.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military also said that it will investigate the killing of 15 paramedics in Rafah city in March 2025, the news agency reported.

Israeli forces had opened fire on the paramedics’ vehicles while they were responding to casualties from an Israeli offensive in the city.

The troops allegedly buried the bodies in a mass grave and bulldozed over them. The United Nations and rescue workers reached the site a week later and recovered the bodies.

After the incident gained widespread global attention, the Israeli military claimed that it had opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” towards its troops. It claimed that the vehicles did not have headlights or emergency signals.

However, after a video footage showing the vehicles moving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible emerged, Israel backtracked from its initial claim.

In September 2025, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry said that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

In June, commission said that the Israeli military had deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children to commit a genocide. The Israeli forces have killed more than 20,000 children and injured 44,000 since October 2023, the panel said.

In its report, the panel included the killing of Rajab as an example of the genocidal acts.

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