More than 930 days after the death of five-year-old Hind Rajab and her family in Gaza, the Israeli military has announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the incident. The January 29, 2024, event, which saw the child trapped in a vehicle surrounded by the bodies of her relatives, became a focal point of international outcry regarding the protection of civilians in the conflict.
The military’s probe is reportedly centered on alleged failures in coordinating the movement of a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance sent to rescue the child. This investigation is running concurrently with a separate inquiry into the deaths of 15 medics and rescue workers in the region. Despite these steps, the announcement has been met with significant doubt from legal scholars and human rights advocates who argue the timing is strategically linked to Israel’s current standing in international courts.
Nasir Qadri, an international law practitioner and scholar at Koc University, suggests the move follows a familiar institutional pattern. According to Qadri, Israel often employs a sequence of initial denial, followed by an extended review, and eventual closure without prosecution. He argues that this latest development is designed to address the “complementarity” requirements of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the ICC is intended to intervene only when a state is deemed unable or unwilling to conduct its own genuine investigations. By demonstrating that domestic probes are underway, a state may attempt to challenge the admissibility of cases before the court. Qadri notes that Israel is currently navigating active ICC proceedings and genocide-related referrals at the International Court of Justice, making the timing of this announcement particularly significant.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, a Brussels-based advocacy group, has dismissed the investigation as a “masquerade” intended to deflect accountability. The foundation cites an independent review of 52 known Israeli military investigations into Gaza and West Bank violations, noting that 88 percent were either closed without findings of wrongdoing or left in an indefinite state of limbo.
A spokesperson for the foundation stated that the probe appears to be a charade aimed at whitewashing actions against Palestinians rather than a genuine pursuit of justice. The group emphasized that given the historical lack of meaningful consequences in similar cases, they maintain no confidence in the Israeli judiciary. They continue to advocate for an independent international investigation as the only viable path to accountability.
The skepticism is shared by those close to the case. Family members have expressed that they have no faith in the domestic process, asserting that the vehicle was deliberately targeted. They have called for justice not only for Hind but for all children lost in the conflict, insisting that only international oversight can address the gravity of the situation.
Kaouther Ben Hania, the Tunisian director of the film *The Voice of Hind Rajab*, also rejected the military’s announcement, labeling it a “smokescreen.” She questioned the fate of countless other victims whose stories have not received similar international attention, arguing that the focus should remain on the broader pattern of indifference.
Official figures from Israel indicate that over 1,000 wartime incidents have been referred to internal review mechanisms, resulting in 74 criminal cases. However, critics point out that there is no comprehensive public accounting of the status of these cases. Furthermore, the same week the probe into Hind’s death was announced, Israel closed a separate investigation into the April 2024 strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
Historical precedents, such as the 2022 killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, further fuel the distrust. In that instance, the military acknowledged a “high possibility” that its soldiers were responsible but ultimately declined to open a criminal investigation. For rights groups, the current probe into the Rajab case is viewed as a strategic maneuver to preserve impunity rather than a shift toward transparency. The report also notes that israeli forces killed five-year-old Hind Rajab alongside her family on January 29, 2024, in what has become one of the most shocking acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in Gaza in nearly three years. The report also notes that was heard by millions of people around the world, and it turned her into a symbol Israel has spent over two years trying, and failing, to bury along with her, her final phone call pleading for someone to come. The report also notes that for most of that time, Israel denied its soldiers had even fired on the car, before shifting to acknowledging troops had been in the area, and only this week admitting, for the first time, that its own forces shot at the vehicle. The report also notes that its strikes in Lebanon and elsewhere, the announcement by the genocidal army comes as Israel faces renewed legal scrutiny over its genocide in Gaza. The report also notes that “Israel is currently subject to active ICC proceedings, faces genocide referrals before the ICJ, and is operating under the July 2024 Advisory Opinion finding its occupation violates peremptory norms,” Qadri says. The report also notes that not with any new evidence coming to light, he adds, the timing of the announcement lines up with Israel losing ground on its case before the ICC.
