Biden White House Finally Gets Its Wish.

This essay appeared in the Aug. 20, 2026 edition of UNFTR’s premium newsletter. Become a UNFTR member to receive our bonus newsletter each week and for other perks.

All alone and wounded from a barrage of heavy gunfire from an Israeli tank, Hind Rajab desperately cried out for help.

One moment the child and six of her family members were fleeing an area under Israeli forced evacuation orders and the next Rajab sat trapped inside a blood-stained black Kia, her four cousins and aunt and uncle’s lifeless, bullet-ridden bodies surrounding her.

She picked up a phone and pleaded with her mother, who had earlier been separated from her:

“Don’t leave me alone, Mama.”

In the moment, Rajab seemed to speak for thousands of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces during the genocide in Gaza.

The 5-year-old’s decomposed body was discovered 12 days later along with her family and the paramedics whose vehicle was also shelled by Israeli forces.

All alone, against her final wishes.

Rajab’s last words continue to haunt people across the world to this day. Whether they come to Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu in their sleep is another matter entirely—the pair have so much blood on their hands that it would be difficult to discern which slaughtered child torments them at night for their collective sins.

Speaking of those hellish misdeeds, Rajab’s violent final moments on this planet are being replayed again amid news that Israel is opening an “investigation” into the slaughter. Israel, of course, has long denied that the IDF was even in the area at the time of the killing of Rajab, her six family members and responding paramedics—more than two and a half years after their lives were mercilessly snuffed out.

The launch of the purported probe marks the first time Israel has acknowledged being responsible for the deadly onslaught in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, saying its forces “fired at a vehicle that was approaching them.”

As a reminder, the family left their home around 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2024. An investigation by Forensic Architecture noted that the Israeli evacuation order called for Palestinians to travel south—made impossible by debris in the road caused by a previous Israeli strike. The investigation found that more than 300 bullet holes littered the Kia, most of which were on the right side of the vehicle.

Rajab’s cousin Layan, who also initially survived the first volley, had placed the first call to Palestine Red Crescent Society, telling dispatchers that a tank was firing at the vehicle.

“Seconds before Layan Hamada is killed, she is heard saying, ‘They are firing at us, the tank is next to me,’” Forensic Architecture reported. “The Merkava tank FN MAG machine gun fires 7.62 calibre bullets. These bullets travel at a speed of 840 metres per second. The muzzle blast from the gun that fired these shots was traveling at 340.2 metres per second, which is the speed of sound at the time of the killing at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.”

Such was the carnage that Israel inflicted on a family heeding its evacuation orders.

As for the investigation, the Hind Rajab Foundation has no confidence the probe will result in any measurable consequences.

“We have no trust whatsoever in the Israeli judicial system. This is a charade aimed at whitewashing and exonerating the criminals who killed Hind Rajab and her family,” Dyab Abou Jahjah, Director General at HRF, said in a statement. “We know who killed Hind. We know the responsibility of the 401st Armoured Brigade under Beni Aharon, the 52nd Battalion commanded by Daniel Ella, and the Vampire Empire Company commanded by Sean Glass. These people should be behind bars.”

“The timing must also be understood in its broader context,” the foundation added in its response to the news of the investigation. “The announcement comes as Israel faces renewed international scrutiny over the recent escalation of the genocide in Gaza, intensified attacks on South Lebanon, and its renewed aggression against Syria.”

Indeed, skepticism abounds.

Rajab’s grandmother, who shares the 5-year-old’s name, was also dismissive of the alleged probe.

“We do not trust Israel’s justice system, we don’t trust them because they have committed numerous crimes,” she said. “They acknowledged the Hind incident because it was documented, but many more crimes have occurred in Gaza that have not been documented.”

And she has every right to be skeptical.

An analysis published in August 2025 by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) revealed that the far majority of cases reviewing alleged war crimes during the genocide effectively went nowhere.

“Of the 52 allegations of war crimes, only six cases (12%) resulted in any admission of error,” AOAV said. “Of these, only one resulted in a punitive outcome that involved a legal sanction (i.e., a prison sentence). Three of the incidents led to officers being dismissed or reprimanded. Seven cases (13%) were closed with findings of no violation. The remaining 39 (75%) – three quarters – either remain ‘under review’ or have no official outcome reported in English-language press.”

“We were struck by how the internal investigation process was – perhaps purposefully – opaque. At how infrequently accountability was served,” AOAV added. “And there was a lurking suspicion that the outcomes of any investigation may have been to serve to protect institutional legitimacy rather than to deliver justice.”

In a way, the announcement serves as yet another reminder of the United States’ involvement in perpetuating, enabling, and financing the genocide of Palestinians. In case after case, brought to the State Department, the public was told that the Biden administration urged investigations into various atrocities (strikes on aid workers, hospitals, civilians, journalists, etc.).

Here’s just a few:

• Dec. 6, 2023: State Department (ghoul) spokesman Matthew Miller was asked about U.S.-made weapons being used by Israel killing four dozen civilians. His response: “And of course the Israeli Government has a professional military, and so when they get these types of reports, they should do what our military should do, which is investigate them. That’s something every military should do, and we would expect them to do so as well.”

• Dec. 18, 2023: Miller on reports of Israeli soldiers attacking journalists: “We are deeply concerned by the disturbing images of the use of force against a journalist that was depicted in those videos, and we think it’s appropriate that those – that the video be investigated and, if the facts support it, that the – that the people involved be held accountable.”

• Feb. 14, 2024 (two weeks after Rajab and her family were killed): Miller is asked about the status of any investigation into the slayings: “Sure. So I think that question is appropriately directed to the Government of Israel. I will say, on behalf of the United States, we have made clear to them that we want that incident to be investigated. They have told us they are investigating it. It’s our understanding that investigation is not yet complete. You should direct questions to them about where it stands.”

Well, Miller got his wish. The investigation has commenced. But it’s comical that anyone thinks a country prosecuting a war of annihilation will hold itself accountable, especially considering so many other atrocities it has committed.

For Rajab’s living relatives, the pain of listening to her pleas for help and safety will never recede. Yet there are so many parents and families that didn’t get a final heart-wrenching message from their precious children. So many took their final breaths amid explosive silence—all alone in their greatest moment of need.

Image Source

• Lua Eva Blue, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Changes were made.