Photo credit: WRAL
The Israeli military said it will investigate the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family members in February 2024, and the separate killings of 15 paramedics in March 2025. Both drew international attention.
The Associated Press reports that the announcement followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza. The military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.
Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle that also was carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza city amid an Israeli offensive.
The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then bulldozed the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Troops first shot an 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.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed “outrage” on Thursday at Israel’s decision not to pursue criminal charges over strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian woman Zomi Frankcom.
Wong said her government was informed of the decision moments before it was announced, leaving officials no time to inform Frankcom’s family before it became public.
“There are still unanswered questions,” Wong said.
They included why the truck was struck three times in a humanitarian fire control zone and why a senior brigade officer involved in the strikes was a signatory to a letter urging the restriction of aid to Gaza, Wong added. Australia had yet to receive drone recordings from the attack, despite seeking them multiple times, she said.
