The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted this Wednesday for the first time that in January 2024 they opened fire on the vehicle in which the 6-year-old girl Hind Rajab was traveling in Gaza. After months of denying any involvement in one of the most documented episodes of attacks on the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli Army has now announced the opening of an investigation.
"The results of the investigation revealed that IDF troops fired at a vehicle that was approaching while traveling in the opposite direction to the announced evacuation," stated the General Staff, which in the months following the attack had already disseminated another report in which it distanced itself from what happened.
In that first internal inquiry, the IDF maintained that "they were not present near the vehicle nor within shooting range." However, they have ended up acknowledging that they did indeed machine-gun the Hamada family car, causing the initial death of five of its occupants, and that they also fired at the ambulance that arrived after the distress call from Hind Rajab and her 15-year-old cousin Lian.
The shots fired at the Red Crescent ambulance claimed the lives of all those inside. Earlier, Lian was hit by bullets from Israeli troops during the call and died while speaking with the rescue teams. At that moment, little Hind took the phone and remained on the line until the connection was cut off.
Twelve days later, when the IDF authorized access to the site, Hind's body was found alongside her relatives inside the car, completely riddled with bullets. A short distance away, the Red Crescent ambulance appeared, reduced to a charred wreck, with the remains of the two paramedics inside.
The Israeli military command has also communicated decisions regarding other high-profile attacks carried out by its troops during the war, such as the bombing in April 2024 in which seven workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed, or the operations in which employees of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) lost their lives in 2023 and 2024.
In the case of the organization founded by Spanish chef José Andrés, the General Staff has decided not to promote new proceedings or open additional criminal procedures against the military involved, beyond the internal actions already taken.