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The grandmother of Hind Rajab told AFP her family had no faith in a criminal probe into the five-year-old\u2019s death in Gaza in 2024, calling it little more than an attempt by the Israeli military to \u201cjustify\u201d her killing.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hind Rajab\u2019s body was recovered from a car riddled with bullets in Gaza City days after she was last heard from in a desperate, hours-long phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on January 29, 2024.<\/p>\n Her death sparked international outrage and calls for an independent investigation.<\/p>\n The Israeli military on Wednesday admitted its troops fired on the car carrying Rajab and her family, after previously denying soldiers were present in the area.<\/p>\n It said it had ordered a criminal investigation by the military police following a \u201creview of the findings and due to alleged failures in the coordination of the movement of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were surprised by the statement issued by the Israeli army,\u201d Hind Rajab\u2019s grandmother, also called Hind Rajab, told AFP, acknowledging it was the first time the military had \u201cadmitted its mistake\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBut for us this is not an admission but rather an attempt by the Israeli army to justify to the world how it committed the crime and how they executed Hind,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe army is trying to justify its position to the world, claiming that what happened was a mistake and that the soldiers who committed it will be prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n Five-year-old Rajab made the harrowing emergency call after her family\u2019s car came under fire during an attempt to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli advance.<\/p>\n Her body was eventually recovered along with those of six family members and two Red Crescent rescuers sent to find her.<\/p>\n The original audio recordings of her plea for help were incorporated into the Oscar-nominated feature film \u201cThe Voice of Hind Rajab\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s foreign ministry said the opening of the criminal investigation showed that the country was a \u201claw-abiding democracy\u201d, which Rajab\u2019s grandmother disputed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not trust Israel\u2019s justice system, we don\u2019t trust them because they have committed numerous crimes,\u201d she told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cThey acknowledged the Hind incident because it was documented, but many more crimes have occurred in Gaza that have not been documented.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,300 Palestinians since October 2023, according to figures from Gaza\u2019s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.<\/p>\n The devastating war was sparked by Hamas\u2019s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.<\/p>\n\u00a0\u2018Justice for children of Gaza\u2019<\/h2>\n