Israeli military launches criminal probes into killings of 5-year-old and paramedics

Key Points:

• Israel's military announced its first criminal investigations into troop conduct in Gaza, focusing on the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family, and 15 Palestinian paramedics, while declining probes into attacks on World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders aid workers.
• The investigations follow international outcry over incidents including Hind Rajab being killed in a vehicle under fire and paramedics shot while trying to rescue casualties, with bodies bulldozed into a mass grave by Israeli troops.
• Rights groups and Palestinian officials reject the military probes as insufficient, demanding international investigations, citing a history of near-zero accountability for alleged Israeli war crimes during the Gaza campaign.
• Israel denies accusations of genocide and war crimes, attributing civilian deaths to Hamas militants operating in populated areas, and maintains its justice system can handle violations, though prosecutions of soldiers remain extremely rare.
• The conflict since October 2023 has killed over 73,000 people in Gaza, including many women and children, with ongoing Israeli strikes continuing to cause casualties despite a ceasefire agreement.