Human rights group files war crime complaint against Israeli soldier over death of Gazan child
6-year-old Hind Rajab, 6 of her family members killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza City last year
Israeli attacks continue on Gaza
ISTANBUL
A human rights group has filed a war crime complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against an Israeli commander over the killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian child in the Gaza Strip.
On Jan. 29, 2024, a car carrying Hind Rajab, 6, and six of her family members was hit by Israeli tank fire in Gaza City, killing them instantly.
The young child remained bleeding at the hit car for three hours until she breathed her last as paramedics failed to reach her due to intense Israeli fire.
In a Saturday statement, the Hind Rajab Foundation said it filed an ICC complaint against Lt. Col. Beni Aharon, commander of the Israeli army’s 401st Armored Brigade at the time, over the child’s death.
“It was under Lt. Col. Aharon’s command that an Israeli tank unit attacked the civilian vehicle of Hind's family, and later destroyed the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance dispatched to rescue her,” the statement said.
“We also confirm that the battalion operating under his authority in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood on 29 January 2024 has been fully identified, along with its field commanders and operational officers. These men are no longer unknown. They are no longer protected by silence.”
The Brussels-based rights group called on the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli commander, saying that it is also preparing additional legal complaints against other officers at the Israeli battalion.
“Today, Hind should have been blowing out candles,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, chairman of the foundation. “Instead, we are naming her killer. This is only the beginning. We are coming for every name, every link in the chain, with the law and with truth.”
Nearly 52,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The ICC issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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