Israel's military has launched criminal investigations into the deaths of Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and 15 emergency and aid workers in Gaza, intensifying scrutiny of Israeli troops and reviving global outrage over some of the war's most harrowing and deeply disturbing episodes, Reuters reported.
The investigations were announced Wednesday after the military's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism reviewed five separate incidents involving the deaths of Palestinians.
Rights groups, however, said such internal probes have rarely resulted in convictions of Israeli soldiers or commanders.
Hind Rajab, 6, was killed in January 2024 after becoming trapped inside a car in Gaza City following an Israeli attack that killed members of her family.
For hours, she remained alive, speaking by phone with Palestinian emergency workers and pleading for help as she was surrounded by the bodies of her relatives.
An ambulance was eventually dispatched to rescue her. Contact with Hind and the two paramedics who went to find her was later lost.
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Twelve days afterward, rescuers recovered the bodies of Hind, her relatives and the two ambulance workers.
The circumstances of her death have shocked the world and become a symbol of the devastating civilian toll of the Gaza war.
The military said its decision to investigate followed reviews of several incidents.
It also examined the April 2024 killing of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen.
In that case, however, the military said there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct warranting a criminal investigation.
The Israeli military said it was examining exceptional incidents as part of its obligations under international and Israeli law, while emphasizing the complexity of its military operations.
Israeli rights organization Yesh Din said criminal investigations into alleged offenses against Palestinians rarely lead to indictments or meaningful punishment.
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The investigations come amid continued international scrutiny of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, launched after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The killing of Hind Rajab had drawn worldwide flak towards the Israeli government. The United Nations labelled it as a war crime.
The killing of five-year old Hind Rajab, her family and two paramedics may amount to a war crime, independent experts warned today, denouncing Israeli claims that its troops were not in the area at the time as “unacceptable.”
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