AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Israel's military says that it's launching criminal investigations into two deadly attacks on civilians carried out by Israeli troops in Gaza. These attacks in the past couple of years of war made headlines around the world, and one was the subject in an Academy Award-nominated film. NPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: The film is "The Voice Of Hind Rajab."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hello.
ESTRIN: It's about this real-life phone call to Palestinian paramedics during the Gaza war.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: Five-year-old Hind Rajab called from the car. The other family members inside were dead. Israeli troops fired on them as they fled Gaza City in January 2024. As the paramedics set out to rescue the 5-year-old girl, they too were killed by Israeli fire. Later, the girl's body was found.
Now, 2 1/2 years later, the Israeli military has announced a criminal investigation. The army said the family was driving contrary to a notice the army had announced to residents and that troops fired at the family's car as it approached them. The army noted, quote, "alleged failures" in coordinating with the Palestinian ambulance crew. The girl's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, spoke with NPR about Israel's criminal probe.
HIND RAJAB: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: "We support that it be opened, but there should be justice for all the children and adults of Gaza," she says. But she doesn't believe soldiers would actually be held accountable and said justice should come internationally.
The Israeli army also announced another criminal investigation into last year's killing of 15 Palestinian rescue workers in a single Israeli attack in March 2025. A cellphone video retrieved from one of the rescue worker's bodies captured his last moments.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER: (Speaking Arabic).
ESTRIN: "Mom," he says, "forgive me. This is the path I chose to help people."
The army said soldiers misidentified the rescue vehicles and fired on them. These are among about 150 incidents the army is still reviewing of soldier conduct in Gaza, where health officials say Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians. The military has only opened two other criminal probes into the conduct of soldiers in Gaza, according to an Israeli human rights group called Yesh Din. The group's director, Ziv Stahl, says Israeli military convictions are rare.
ZIV STAHL: In the even more rare cases where there is a conviction against soldiers or commanders, they get the most ridiculous punishments in comparison to the offenses they commit.
ESTRIN: Israel's army says it will not open criminal probes into several other attacks in Gaza that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.
Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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