The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said Israel’s belated announcement that it will open a criminal investigation into its slaughter of five-year-old Palestinian child Hind Rajab, her family members, and the paramedics who attempted to rescue them is “worthless” and called on the U.S. to hold Israel accountable for her murder and for the genocide in Gaza.
The Israeli military announced that it is opening criminal investigations into the January 2024 killing of Hind Rajab and members of her family, as well as the killing of Palestinian emergency and aid workers in a separate 2025 incident. The announcement follows years of international calls for an independent investigation into Hind’s murder.
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said,
“Everyone, including the Israeli government and its supporters, have long known that Israel was responsible for deliberately murdering Hind Rajab, her family, and the paramedics who tried to save her. The Netanyahu regime’s belated admission that it murdered Hind and will open a token criminal investigation is worthless. No one should take it seriously.
“Instead, our nation should hold the Israeli government accountable for killing Hind and tens of thousands of other innocent people during the ongoing genocide in Gaza by suspending military aid and imposing sanctions on Israel. So should the international community.”
Evidence shows Israeli soldiers fired more than 300 bullets into the vehicle in which Hind and her relatives were trapped after Israeli tank and machine-gun fire targeted their car as they attempted to flee Gaza City.
As the wounded child used a cell phone to beg for someone to save her, paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society who attempted to rescue her were also killed when their ambulance was struck in what was effectively an Israeli military ambush.
Earlier this year, CAIR urged Americans to contact their members of Congress and demand support for the Justice for Hind Rajab Act (S.4095/ H.R.7903 ).
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, [email protected]