“Israeli” Military Admits Its Forces Fired on Vehicle Carrying Five-Year-Old Hind Rajab

By Staff, Agencies

The “Israeli” military has acknowledged for the first time that its forces opened fire on a vehicle carrying five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza in January 2024, after previously denying that its troops were present in the area.

Hind was martyred after the vehicle carrying her family came under heavy gunfire as they attempted to flee Gaza City during the “Israeli” military’s offensive in northern Gaza.

The five-year-old later became an international symbol of the devastation inflicted on Palestinian civilians after she made a desperate emergency call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024, remaining on the phone for hours while trapped inside the damaged vehicle.

Her body was recovered days later from the bullet-riddled vehicle alongside six members of her family. Two Palestinian Red Crescent paramedics who were dispatched to rescue her were also killed.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the “Israeli” military admitted that its forces had fired at the vehicle, claiming it had been “approaching them while travelling contrary to the advance notice” issued to residents in the area.

The military said five passengers were martyred and claimed that Hind and her cousin, Layan Hamada, initially survived.

It also acknowledged that an ambulance sent to rescue the survivors came under fire.

“Upon the ambulance’s arrival at the scene of the incident, a shell was fired toward it, resulting in the deaths of the two paramedics travelling in it,” the statement said.

The admission comes after the military had previously denied having forces in the area at the time of the incident, intensifying criticism over its handling of the case.

Hind’s killing sparked international outrage and renewed calls for an independent investigation. Recordings of her heartbreaking emergency call were later featured in the Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab, bringing further global attention to her death.

The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based legal organization pursuing cases involving “Israeli” violations in Gaza, rejected the military’s claim that it would investigate the incident.

The foundation said it had “no confidence” in any such investigation, arguing that internal “Israeli” investigations are “fundamentally flawed and cannot be regarded as credible mechanisms of accountability.”

The case has remained a powerful symbol of the dangers faced by Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war and of longstanding demands for independent accountability for the killing of children and humanitarian workers.