‘The tank is next to me’: IDF opens criminal probe after admitting troops fired at car where 5-year-old Hind Rajab was trapped

The case has drawn worldwide consideration since January 2024 and later grew to become the topic of the award-winning film The Voice of Hind Rajab.

The Voice of Hind Rajab film overview: The movie stars Motaaz Malheez, Saja Kilani, and Amer Hlehel. (Photograph: YouTube/ enhanced through AI)

What occurred to Hind Rajab?

On January 29, 2024, Hind was travelling with members of her household as they tried to go away Gaza Metropolis amid Israeli evacuation orders.

The household was travelling in a automotive when it got here underneath fireplace within the Tel al-Hawa space of Gaza Metropolis. Hind and her 15-year-old cousin Layan had been initially the one survivors contained in the automobile. Layan contacted the Palestine Pink Crescent emergency service and instructed operators that members of her household had been killed and {that a} tank was subsequent to the automotive.

The decision ended amid gunfire. When Pink Crescent operators known as again, Hind answered.

She instructed them she was scared and requested them to return and rescue her. The operators remained on the telephone together with her for hours as they tried to rearrange an ambulance. The recording of these calls would later develop into one of the extensively heard accounts of the incident.

⏺️Audio recording of the second gunfire was directed at 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh whereas she was talking on the telephone with the Palestine Pink Crescent group.
💔Layan was killed, and 6-year-old Hind remained trapped contained in the automotive surrounded by the occupation tanks and troopers.… pic.twitter.com/iMHGdoRcni

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 30, 2024

Household flees Gaza Metropolis amid Israeli evacuation order

Her mom, Wissam Hamada, had been separated from the household earlier that day after she vacated the world on foot. The household was following an order by the Israeli army to evacuate the area within the West of Gaza Metropolis and transfer south alongside the coastal street, BBC reported. Hamada, on the time, mentioned intense shelling was reported in her space, including, “We had been terrified, and we wished to flee. We had been fleeing from place to put, to keep away from the air strikes.”

It’s reported that Hind Rajab’s household got here head to head with an Israeli army tank as their automotive moved in direction of Al-Azhar College in Gaza. Rajab’s uncle drove the automobile in direction of Fares petrol station for security, however unexpectedly got here underneath fireplace from Tel Aviv’s forces. The members of the family then began calling for assist, and one in all them dialled the Palestine Pink Crescent Society within the occupied West Financial institution round 2:30 pm (native time).

‘The tank is subsequent to me’

Hind’s phrases to the emergency operators grew to become central to the case. She instructed them that she was alone, scared and wounded. At one level, she mentioned the tank was subsequent to her.

The operators tried to maintain her calm whereas coordinating a rescue. One of many operators instructed her that an ambulance was coming.

Hind repeatedly pleaded with them to not go away her. The calls ultimately stopped.

Forensic and media investigations subsequently examined the recordings, satellite tv for pc imagery, pictures and the wreckage of the automobiles. A 2024 investigation by Forensic Structure concluded that the proof was in step with the ambulance having been hit by ammunition fired from the route of Israeli tanks.

A separate Washington Put up investigation additionally discovered Israeli armoured automobiles within the space and mentioned the harm to the ambulance was in step with weapons doubtlessly fired from Israeli tanks, whereas noting that consultants couldn’t definitively set up the munition from the ambulance harm alone.

What occurred to the ambulance despatched to rescue her?

After receiving clearance to maneuver into the world, a Palestine Pink Crescent ambulance was dispatched to rescue Hind.

Two paramedics, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, had been inside. They misplaced contact with the Pink Crescent management room whereas approaching the placement.

The ambulance was later discovered destroyed, with the our bodies of the 2 paramedics inside. Hind and her kinfolk had been additionally discovered lifeless in and across the household automotive days later, after Israeli forces withdrew from the world.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths grew to become the topic of a number of unbiased investigations.

What has Israel mentioned about Hind Rajab’s demise?

The Israeli army initially mentioned its forces weren’t current close to the automobile and that its troops had not been concerned within the incident. Now, that place has modified.

On Wednesday, the IDF mentioned its overview discovered that its troops had fired on the automobile. It additionally mentioned there had been alleged failures in coordinating the motion of the Palestine Pink Crescent ambulance.

The army has now ordered a legal investigation by its Army Police Prison Investigation Division.

The investigation is a part of a wider overview of a number of incidents involving Palestinian deaths. The IDF additionally ordered a legal probe into the March 2025 killing of 15 Palestinian emergency and help staff. In different circumstances examined by the army, together with the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen staff in April 2024, it mentioned there was no cheap suspicion of legal misconduct warranting a legal investigation.

Why is the brand new investigation vital?

The most recent announcement is important as a result of it’s the first time the Israeli army has acknowledged that its troops fired on the automotive carrying Hind and her kinfolk. For the household and Palestinian rights teams, nonetheless, the announcement doesn’t finish the questions surrounding the case.

Human rights organisations have criticised Israel’s inside army justice system and questioned whether or not such investigations can present significant accountability. The Hind Rajab Basis, which has campaigned for a world investigation, has known as for accountability past Israel’s army justice system.

How did Hind Rajab’s story develop into a movie?

Hind’s ultimate conversations with the Palestine Pink Crescent grew to become the premise for The Voice of Hind Rajab, a docudrama directed by Kaouther Ben Hania.

The movie makes use of actors to painting the emergency operators and different individuals concerned whereas incorporating the actual audio recordings of Hind’s calls. The movie introduced renewed world consideration to the case and was shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards.

Its central energy comes from the truth that Hind’s voice just isn’t recreated for probably the most harrowing elements of the story. Her precise pleas for assist stay on the centre of the movie.

What occurs subsequent?

The Israeli army’s legal investigation will now look at the conduct of troops concerned within the incident and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The investigation might decide whether or not particular person troopers or commanders face legal proceedings.

For Hind’s household and people who have campaigned for accountability, the important thing query stays whether or not the probe will set up accountability for the deaths of the kid, her kinfolk and the 2 paramedics — and whether or not anybody will finally be held accountable.

For 2 years, Hind’s voice has remained one of the haunting recordings to emerge from the Gaza conflict.

Now, for the primary time, the Israeli army has formally acknowledged that its troops fired on the automotive during which she was trapped.

(With inputs from companies)