DaysofPal – The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a formal request with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for 24 Israeli officers and soldiers implicated in the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, her family members, and two medics who attempted to rescue her in Gaza earlier this year.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Brussels-based foundation said it submitted a 120-page dossier to the ICC in The Hague under Article 15 of the Rome Statute. The file details the circumstances of the attack that killed Hind and her relatives in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of southwestern Gaza City on January 29, 2024, identifying by name the Israeli personnel allegedly responsible.
According to the submission, the accused include members of the “Vampire Empire Unit,” the 52nd Armored Battalion, and the 401st Armored Brigade, units that the foundation says were directly involved in the deadly strike. The foundation also urged the ICC to widen its investigation to encompass these formations and their commanders.
New Evidence Exposes Command-Level Involvement
The filing comes days after an investigative episode by “What’s Hidden is Greater,” a program by Al Jazeera, which uncovered detailed information on the officers and soldiers involved in the attack. The report identified, among others, Brigadier General Beni Aharon, commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Ela, commander of the 52nd Battalion.
Aharon had already been the subject of a prior complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation in May 2024 for alleged war crimes and direct responsibility in Hind’s death.
The investigation also confirmed that two Palestinian paramedics were killed by Israeli fire as they tried to reach Hind’s vehicle after her desperate emergency call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Calls for Global Accountability
Hamas official Ali Baraka praised the findings, saying the investigation “exposes the extent of the horrors committed by this fascist army against innocent civilians in Gaza.” He added that the evidence proves the killings were not isolated acts but “part of a systematic policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing carried out under direct orders from Israeli leadership.”
Baraka called the murder of Hind Rajab “a symbol of the atrocities Palestinians endure daily under occupation,” urging the international community and human rights organizations to move beyond condemnation and take concrete steps toward accountability.
He appealed to countries whose citizens are among the accused Israeli soldiers to fulfill their legal and moral obligations by arresting and prosecuting them. Baraka further called on both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take “serious and urgent measures” to hold Israeli leaders responsible for crimes against Palestinians.
The Hind Rajab Foundation, established in February 2024, has made it its mission to pursue justice for victims of Israel’s military operations in Gaza through international legal channels.
Hind’s case shocked global audiences earlier this year when recordings of her pleading for help from a car surrounded by Israeli tanks circulated widely. Her killing, along with that of her family and the two medics who tried to save her, became a searing symbol of the human cost of Israel’s war on Gaza.
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