Israel’s military said Wednesday (August 19, 2026) it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics.
Contact was lost. Rajab was killed alongside her relatives while trying to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive. Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying Hind and four of her cousins and her aunt and uncle. Hind was the sole survivor in the car. The Red Crescent stayed in contact with her as they tried to get permission from the military to rescue her. Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.
Hind’s cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic centre, telling them that a tank was approaching and that her family had been killed. Hind, her five relatives and two medics were found dead 12 days later. The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then buried them in a mass grave.
Seconds later, more gunshots were heard, and Layan’s screaming stopped, according to the Red Crescent recording of the call. Troops shot at the first ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings.
But it backtracked from that account after the footage emerged, showing the Red Crescent and Civil Defence teams driving slowly with their emergency vehicle lights flashing and logos visible.
The Israeli military initially said it opened fire because the vehicles were “advancing suspiciously” on nearby troops without headlights or emergency signals.
