The case has drawn international attention since January 2024 and later became the subject of the award-winning film The Voice of Hind Rajab.

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

What happened to Hind Rajab?

On January 29, 2024, Hind was travelling with members of her family as they attempted to leave Gaza City amid Israeli evacuation orders.

The family was travelling in a car when it came under fire in the Tel al-Hawa area of Gaza City. Hind and her 15-year-old cousin Layan were initially the only survivors inside the vehicle. Layan contacted the Palestine Red Crescent emergency service and told operators that members of her family had been killed and that a tank was next to the car.

The call ended amid gunfire. When Red Crescent operators called back, Hind answered.

She told them she was scared and asked them to come and rescue her. The operators remained on the phone with her for hours as they tried to arrange an ambulance. The recording of those calls would later become one of the most widely heard accounts of the incident.

⏺️Audio recording of the moment gunfire was directed at 15-year-old Layan Hamadeh while she was speaking on the phone with the Palestine Red Crescent team.
💔Layan was killed, and 6-year-old Hind remained trapped inside the car surrounded by the occupation tanks and soldiers.… pic.twitter.com/iMHGdoRcni

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 30, 2024

Family flees Gaza City amid Israeli evacuation order

Her mother, Wissam Hamada, had been separated from the family earlier that day after she vacated the area on foot. The family was following an order by the Israeli military to evacuate the region in the West of Gaza City and move south along the coastal road, BBC reported. Hamada, at the time, said intense shelling was reported in her area, adding, “We were terrified, and we wanted to escape. We were fleeing from place to place, to avoid the air strikes.”

It is reported that Hind Rajab’s family came face to face with an Israeli military tank as their car moved towards Al-Azhar University. Rajab’s uncle drove the vehicle towards Fares petrol station for safety, but unexpectedly came under fire from Tel Aviv’s forces. The family members then started calling for help, and one of them dialled the Palestine Red Crescent Society in the occupied West Bank around 2:30 pm (local time).

‘The tank is next to me’

Hind’s words to the emergency operators became central to the case. She told them that she was alone, scared and wounded. At one point, she said the tank was next to her.

The operators tried to keep her calm while coordinating a rescue. One of the operators told her that an ambulance was coming.

Hind repeatedly pleaded with them not to leave her. The calls eventually stopped.

Forensic and media investigations subsequently examined the recordings, satellite imagery, photographs and the wreckage of the vehicles. A 2024 investigation by Forensic Architecture concluded that the evidence was consistent with the ambulance having been hit by ammunition fired from the direction of Israeli tanks.

A separate Washington Post investigation also found Israeli armoured vehicles in the area and said the damage to the ambulance was consistent with weapons potentially fired from Israeli tanks, while noting that experts could not definitively establish the munition from the ambulance damage alone.

What happened to the ambulance sent to rescue her?

After receiving clearance to move into the area, a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance was dispatched to rescue Hind.

Two paramedics, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, were inside. They lost contact with the Red Crescent control room while approaching the location.

The ambulance was later found destroyed, with the bodies of the two paramedics inside. Hind and her relatives were also found dead in and around the family car days later, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area.

The circumstances surrounding the deaths became the subject of several independent investigations.

What has Israel said about Hind Rajab’s death?

The Israeli military initially said its forces were not present near the vehicle and that its troops had not been involved in the incident. Now, that position has changed.

On Wednesday, the IDF said its review found that its troops had fired at the vehicle. It also said there had been alleged failures in coordinating the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance.

The military has now ordered a criminal investigation by its Military Police Criminal Investigation Division.

The investigation is part of a wider review of several incidents involving Palestinian deaths. The IDF also ordered a criminal probe into the March 2025 killing of 15 Palestinian emergency and aid workers. In other cases examined by the military, including the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers in April 2024, it said there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct warranting a criminal investigation.

Why is the new investigation significant?

The latest announcement is significant because it is the first time the Israeli military has acknowledged that its troops fired on the car carrying Hind and her relatives. For the family and Palestinian rights groups, however, the announcement does not end the questions surrounding the case.

Human rights organisations have criticised Israel’s internal military justice system and questioned whether such investigations can provide meaningful accountability. The Hind Rajab Foundation, which has campaigned for an international investigation, has called for accountability beyond Israel’s military justice system.

How did Hind Rajab’s story become a film?

Hind’s final conversations with the Palestine Red Crescent became the basis for The Voice of Hind Rajab, a docudrama directed by Kaouther Ben Hania.

The film uses actors to portray the emergency operators and other people involved while incorporating the real audio recordings of Hind’s calls. The film brought renewed global attention to the case and was shortlisted for the 2026 Academy Awards.

Its central power comes from the fact that Hind’s voice is not recreated for the most harrowing parts of the story. Her actual pleas for help remain at the centre of the film.

What happens next?

The Israeli military’s criminal investigation will now examine the conduct of troops involved in the incident and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

The investigation could determine whether individual soldiers or commanders face criminal proceedings.

For Hind’s family and those who have campaigned for accountability, the key question remains whether the probe will establish responsibility for the deaths of the child, her relatives and the two paramedics — and whether anyone will ultimately be held accountable.

For two years, Hind’s voice has remained one of the most haunting recordings to emerge from the Gaza war.

Now, for the first time, the Israeli military has formally acknowledged that its troops fired on the car in which she was trapped.

(With inputs from agencies)