DaysofPal – A new episode of Al Jazeera’s investigative program “What Lies Beneath” has uncovered exclusive evidence identifying the Israeli officers and soldiers responsible for the killing of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, her family, and the paramedics who tried to rescue her in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in January 2024.
The investigation, aired Monday, presented classified documents, images, and digital data that exposed the inner workings of the Israeli military unit behind the attack, a unit chillingly nicknamed “Empire of the Vampires.” The unit operates under the 401st Armored Brigade of the Israeli army.
Orders from the Top: “The Empire of the Vampires”
According to the findings, Captain Sean Glass, commander of the unit, issued the direct orders to open fire on Hind Rajab’s car, killing her and her family as they tried to flee the fighting. Members of the unit reportedly refer to themselves as “The Beasts” and “The Vampires.”
The program traced responsibility beyond Glass’s unit, revealing a broader chain of command. It identified Brigade Commander Benny Aharon and Colonel Daniel, leader of the 22nd Battalion known in Hebrew as HaBokim (“The Invaders”), among those connected to the incident.
Dozens of soldiers were also identified through satellite imagery, leaked audio recordings, and field intelligence, painting a detailed picture of a coordinated military assault that targeted civilians.
One of the soldiers involved was identified as Itai Shuker Kof, who holds both Israeli and Argentine citizenship.
A Network of Crimes Across Gaza
The investigation revealed that the network implicated in the killing of Hind Rajab was also linked to wider military operations in the Gaza Strip, involving officers from Israel’s Engineering Corps and Air Force.
Among the most notable names was Shimon Zuckerman, an officer in the Engineering Corps accused of demolishing residential neighborhoods in the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis. Zuckerman reportedly holds German citizenship, and the Hind Rajab Foundation announced that it has filed a legal case against him in Germany.
In one of its most explosive revelations, What Lies Beneath disclosed a leaked document containing the names, ranks, and home addresses of approximately 30,000 Israeli military personnel, including pilots and air force technicians involved in the Gaza war.
The document is the first of its kind, offering potential evidence for international legal action against those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Legal Action and International Fallout
Natasha Brook, head of litigation at the Hind Rajab Foundation, told Al Jazeera that the information obtained by the program will be used to file cases before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against those responsible for the killing of Hind, her family, and the medics.
She said the findings mark “a crucial step toward identifying the Israeli military chain of command responsible for acts of genocide in Gaza.”
The investigation also reported that Israeli authorities are secretly extracting soldiers from European capitals to avoid arrest following international complaints, citing the case of soldier Elishah Liebman, who was smuggled out of Cyprus on a private jet to evade detention.
The What Lies Beneath exposé builds on months of forensic research, satellite analysis, and leaked field communications, offering the most comprehensive evidence yet linking named Israeli officers to the killing of Hind Rajab, a case that has come to symbolize Israel’s impunity and Gaza’s enduring search for justice.
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