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A documentary by Al Jazeera, in partnership with the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), has revealed new evidence in the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab, her family, and the rescue team that tried to reach them in Gaza City.
HRF announced on Tuesday that it has identified another two dozen Israeli soldiers whom it is referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their role in Hind Rajab's death.
The HRF is named after Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in a barrage of Israeli bullets in Gaza last year during Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people.
The documentary "The Hidden Is More Immense" exposes key details previously unknown about the January 2024 incident that drew international outrage.
Israeli forces killed Rajab along with several relatives as they attempted to flee Gaza City in a car.
Medics tried for hours to save her, but it was too late.
Rajab’s final pleas for help after the shelling that killed her family were widely shared online.
After 12 days of lost contact, the bodies of Palestinian girl Rajab and several members of her family were found in their car in Gaza’s Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, a tragic reminder of the toll of the ongoing conflict.
Following the attack, Israeli officials claimed that their forces were not present in the area at the time of the killings.
Later, they alleged that the 335 bullet holes found in the family’s car were caused by crossfire between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters.
However, a forensic investigation conducted by the multidisciplinary research group Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, contradicts that account.
Using satellite imagery and audio data, the researchers found no evidence of crossfire, identifying instead the presence of Israeli Merkava tanks near the Rajab family’s vehicle.
The documentary attributes operational responsibility for the killings to Israel’s 401st Armored Brigade, commanded by Colonel Beni Aharon.
Aharon is already the subject of a criminal complaint filed at the International Criminal Court by HRF.
Within that brigade, the “Vampire Empire” company—part of the 52nd Armored Battalion, led by Colonel Daniel Ella—is alleged to have carried out the attack and tampered with the crime scene.
The company’s commander, Major Sean Glass, and one of its soldiers, Itay Choukirkov, a dual Israeli-Argentinian national, have both been named in separate legal actions.
The 52nd Battalion, also known as Ha-Bok’im (“The Breachers”), was among the first Israeli units to enter Gaza in October 2023 and has since been involved in several of the army’s most destructive operations, including the storming of hospitals.
Israeli security analyst Yossi Melman, speaking in the film, said: “The government of Israel does not like these campaigns financed by organizations supporting the Palestinians,” acknowledging the political sensitivity surrounding such investigations.
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