The Israeli army said today (Wednesday) that it will open internal criminal investigations into the involvement of its forces in the killing of the Palestinian child Hind Rajab, in January 2024, and 15 relief workers in March 2025 in the Gaza Strip.
The army added that the decisions to open investigations came after reviews conducted by its “fact-finding and evaluation mechanism.” He issued decisions regarding 5 incidents that resulted in the killing of Palestinians.
The decisions included investigating the killing of 7 relief workers from the World Central Kitchen charity in April 2024. The army had said regarding this incident that “there is no reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense that would justify opening a criminal investigation.”
The army stated, “For more than a thousand days, the IDF fought fierce battles on multiple fronts, and carried out a wide range of military missions in light of an extremely complex operational reality.” He added, "Within the framework of the IDF's obligations under international and Israeli law, the army is investigating exceptional incidents that occurred during the fighting."
In February 2024, Hind Rajab (5 years old) was found dead inside a car riddled with bullets in Gaza City, in which she was with her uncle, his wife, and their three children, all of whom were killed.
Before her death, Hind spent three hours on the phone with the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024, while Israeli soldiers were shooting at the car in which everyone had been killed.
French-Tunisian director Kawthar Ben Haniyeh presented the story of the child’s killing in the film “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” which was based on real audio recordings of the call between the child and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, seeking help before her death. These recordings caused great emotion when they were revealed.
It was nominated for the Best International Film Award at the Oscars this year, but was unsuccessful in obtaining it.
Last year, the film won the Grand Silver Lion from the jury at the Venice Film Festival, making the audience cry at its opening screening.
American and Israeli officials reported that Israel informed the administration of US President Donald Trump that its recent attack on the Abu al-Duhur military airport in Idlib came in response to Damascus’s approval of Turkey’s deployment of forces at the airport, which the Hebrew state sees as a “threat” to its security, in accusations rejected by Ankara.
According to the Axios news site, this unusual strike has exacerbated tensions in the region between three of the United States’ closest allies, Israel, Syria, and Turkey, at a time when the Trump administration is striving to prevent further escalation.
Trump sees his approach towards the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as a foreign policy achievement, and he also has a close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while Israel is a close ally of the United States. However, Trump's relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have witnessed great tension in recent months.
This hostile move by Israel aroused the dissatisfaction of the White House and senior American officials.
Initially, Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack, and after many hours passed without any official comment, Netanyahu's office implicitly hinted at the responsibility of the Hebrew state, after Damascus and the United States accused it of that during the day.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said: “Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo on security matters, and Syria was about to violate it by agreeing to the deployment of Turkish forces at an air base near Aleppo.”
He added: “Israel has repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would threaten Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings.”
The American ambassador to Turkey and the American envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, revealed on “X” that Israel carried out the strike, expressing the Trump administration’s “deep” concern, and describing the attack as “an unnecessary escalation that does not contribute to the stability of the region.”
The Syrian and Turkish governments also condemned the attack.
A Turkish official said that “there is no Turkish presence at the airport,” accusing Israel of “creating pretexts to bomb neighboring countries and destabilize the region.”
An informed source said that the Syrian government had been aware of Israel's concerns about Al-Qaeda for some time. It sent letters to the Israelis explaining the reasons for the recent rebuilding of the runway, stressing that it had no hostile intentions.
American and Israeli sources revealed that Tel Aviv informed the White House in advance of the strike, and that it was primarily aimed at deterring Turkey from sending a shipment of advanced weapons systems to the airport, and preventing it from turning into a site to strengthen the Turkish military presence.
About three hours ago, Trump spoke by phone with Erdogan, but it was not clear whether the topic was raised during the call.
The attack comes at a time when relations between Netanyahu and Trump are witnessing great tension, despite the close alliance between Washington and Tel Aviv.
On the other hand, American officials believe that the Syrian government did not take hostile steps towards Israel, but rather sought during the past months to reach a new security agreement to reduce tension on the border.
An American official said that Damascus pushed for weeks to implement an agreement with the United States and Israel to establish a joint coordination center in Jordan, with the aim of managing such incidents and preventing escalation, but Israel refused to operate the center and in return continued to increase its military incursions into southern Syria.
Another American official said: “At some point, the Syrian government began to change its position and believed that it needed to defend itself in the face of Israeli aggression.”
American officials added that the Trump administration asked the Syrian government to exercise restraint, stressing that addressing this issue would be easier after the Israeli elections.
