Kaouther Ben Hania, the director of last year’s Oscar-nominated docudrama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” — about the killing of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza by Israeli forces — has rejected the news that Israel is launching an investigation into Rajab’s death, describing it as “a smokescreen.”
On Wednesday, the Israeli military admitted that its troops had opened fire on the car carrying Rajab and six members of her family in January 2024. Rajab later died following a three-hour call with the Palestinian Red Cross in which she pleaded for help. An ambulance sent to rescue her was also attacked by the Israeli military, killing two medics.
The Israeli Defense Forces repeatedly claimed that its troops had not been in the area at the time of the killings. But investigations by media outlets found evidence that nearby Israeli tanks were responsible, with the death of Rajab becoming one of the most high-profile incidents in the early months of the war in Gaza, prompting outrage around the world.
“Following review of the findings and due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance, it has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by military police criminal investigation division,” the Israeli military said on Wednesday, more than two years after the killing.
