Israel's military finally admitted its troops opened fire on a vehicle carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and shelled an ambulance dispatched to rescue her, announcing criminal investigations into two high-profile killings — while the same establishment press demanding accountability abroad can't spare a sentence for the invasion at America's own southern border.

The investigations, announced Wednesday, cover only two of the dozens of high-profile civilian deaths in Gaza. The military declined to open criminal probes into three other attacks that killed seven World Central Kitchen employees and four Doctors Without Borders workers. The IDF said it completed reviews of 150 incidents and found grounds to investigate only five — and criminal probes for just two.

Hind Rajab was the last survivor in a stranded car in Gaza City in January 2024. Her cousin, 15-year-old Layan Hamada, called the Palestinian Red Crescent, telling them a tank was approaching and her family had been killed. Seconds later, gunshots — then silence, according to the Red Crescent recording. Paramedics sent an ambulance, coordinated with the Israeli army, to rescue the child. That ambulance was shelled, killing two medics. Hind, her six relatives, and the two paramedics were found dead 12 days later.

The IDF initially claimed none of its troops were in the area. The BBC reported the military later admitted it had "conducted raids on terror targets" in the neighborhood where Hind was located. A quiet reversal buried by both outlets.

The second investigation concerns 15 Palestinian paramedics and a U.N. worker killed near Rafah in May 2025. According to AP, troops shot at an ambulance driving to retrieve casualties, then fired on emergency vehicles sent to find the first one. The sole survivor's account and phone footage corroborate the sequence. Troops then bulldozed the bodies and vehicles into a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers reached the site a week later to dig out the dead. One deputy commander has been directed to step down.

Hind's grandmother, also named Hind Rajab, told the AP the Israeli investigation is insufficient. "An international investigation is required to uncover the truth and hold all those responsible accountable," she said. "We call for justice, not only for Hind, but for all Gaza children."

The BBC noted the obvious motive: "The IDF is under pressure to show it investigates itself to try to stave off international legal action, most notably from the International Criminal Court." Self-investigation as legal shield — a familiar playbook for any government caught in the act.

The AP framed the announcement as Israel's "first criminal investigations into troop conduct" and noted the military statement omitted other high-profile killings Israel pledged to investigate. Both outlets reported the U.N. Human Rights Council has said Rajab's killing may constitute a war crime, and rights groups have filed complaints to the ICC.

Here is the open question: a military investigating itself after initially lying about troop presence — and declining to probe the deaths of foreign aid workers from allied nations — asks the world to trust its process. The ICC will decide whether that trust is warranted. Meanwhile, the American press corps that mobilizes for foreign accountability has nothing to say about the millions crossing our border unvetted and the billions sent overseas that could shore up our own sovereignty.