Israel to criminally probe Hind Rajab, Gaza paramedics killings

Jerusalem,UPDATED: Aug 19, 2026 20:22 IST

Israel's military said on Wednesday that it will open criminal investigations into two high-profile killings in Gaza: the death of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and her family in February 2024, and the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics in March 2025. The announcement followed a review of 150 incidents involving troop conduct during the war in Gaza.

In other developments, France said it will expel two staff members of the Iranian Embassy in Paris after Iran expelled two French diplomats earlier this week. At the same time, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in neighbouring Iraq for a three-day visit, and Tehran rejected a UAE accusation that it launched two ballistic missiles targeting maritime navigation.

The Israeli military said the two Gaza incidents that drew international attention would now face criminal investigation. It also said it would not open criminal investigations into three other attacks in which aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders were killed.

Hind Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza City during an Israeli offensive. In the other case, the 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in Rafah in southern Gaza, then bulldozed over the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. According to phone footage and the sole survivor, troops first shot at an ambulance that was going to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, and then fired at several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for it.

In Iraq, Qalibaf is due to meet Iraqi officials and leaders of an Iran-backed political coalition. Iran-backed Iraqi militias have carried out drone attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets inside Iraq and abroad, increasing pressure on Baghdad as it tries to maintain ties with both Washington and Tehran. Qalibaf praised the Tehran-backed militias, which he called the 'resistance in Iraq', and said they were a 'key component of the country's national power'. He added, 'After years of experience in Iraq, the resistance has gone beyond the borders of the two countries and has become an influential force at the regional and global levels.'

According to a statement from Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi, Iraq has asked Iran to grant special status to Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz because the country has been badly affected by the war and needs to protect its economic interests. Iraq depends on oil revenues for about 90 per cent of its budget, and most of its oil exports move through the strait. Since the U.S.-Iran war began and most traffic through the waterway stopped, Iraq has turned to other routes, including sending oil over land to Syria, but that option is less efficient and more costly.

France said it was expelling two Iranian embassy staff after what the French Foreign Ministry described as an assault by Iranian security forces on two French diplomatic staff in Iran last month. Iran said the French diplomats had taken part in a secret meeting with 'suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference', according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, and expelled them on Monday. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Iranian authorities had failed to investigate what he called a 'premeditated and deliberate attack'. He also said the allegations were fabricated and that the two Iranians would leave Paris in the coming days.

Tehran also hit back at the UAE's accusation that Iran had launched two ballistic missiles that targeted 'maritime navigation' and fell into the Persian Gulf. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, 'This behaviour is contrary to the principle of good neighbourliness and disrupts ongoing efforts to strengthen trust between regional countries and prevent escalation in the region.' Soon after Tuesday's incident, the UAE Foreign Ministry said it was suspending trade with Iran 'in light of regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security'. The accusation came less than a week after Abu Dhabi said Iran had fired drones at two tankers operated by a state-owned oil company in the Strait of Hormuz.

The day's developments centred on Israel's decision to investigate two widely watched killings in Gaza, a fresh round of diplomatic expulsions between France and Iran, Iran's outreach to Iraq amid oil concerns, and Tehran's denial of the UAE's missile accusation.

With PTI Inputs

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