The Israeli military said Wednesday it will conduct criminal investigations into the killings of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl and her family and the separate killings of 15 paramedics, following a review of troop conduct during the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, France announced that it will expel two Iranian diplomats in response to the expulsion of French diplomats from the Islamic Republic earlier this week, while the Iranian parliament speaker and chief
negotiator landed in neighboring Iraq for a three-day visit.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it would investigate the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family members in February 2024, and the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in March 2025. Both killings gained international attention.
The announcement, which followed reviews of 150 incidents of troop conduct during the war in Gaza, also said that the military would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen and Doctors Without Borders.
Hind Rajab was killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle that also was carrying her aunt, uncle and four cousins as they tried to flee Gaza City amid an Israeli offensive.
The 15 paramedics were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicles in the southern city of Rafah, then bulldozed over the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Troops shot at a first ambulance that was driving to retrieve casualties from an Israeli offensive, then fired on several other emergency vehicles that went out to look for the first one, according to phone footage and the sole survivor of the shootings.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf arrived in neighboring Iraq on Wednesday for a three-day visit where he will meet with Iraqi officials and leaders of an Iran-backed political coalition.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched drone attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic targets both within the country and abroad, piling pressure on Baghdad, which for years has delicately tried to maintain strong ties with both Washington and Tehran.
Qalibaf on Wednesday praised the country’s Tehran-backed militias — which he called the “resistance in Iraq” — describing them as a “key component of the country’s national power.”
“After years of experience in Iraq, the resistance has gone beyond the borders of the two countries and has become an influential force at the regional and global levels,” Qalibaf said.
Iraq is asking Iran to grant special status to Iraqi oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz because the country has been affected greatly by the war and needs to guard its economic interests, according to a statement from Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi.
Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the Strait of Hormuz. Since the U.S.-Iran war erupted, halting most traffic through the strait, Iraq has turned to alternate routes, including sending oil over land to Syria, but that route is less efficient and more expensive.
France announced Wednesday that it will expel two staff members of the Iranian Embassy in France, in response to what the French Foreign Ministry described as an assault by Iranian security forces against two French diplomatic staff in the Islamic Republic last month.
Iran accused the French pair of taking part in a secret meeting with “suspects in a major case involving foreign infiltration and interference,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The French diplomats were expelled on Monday.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot slammed the Iranian authorities for not investigating what he called a “premeditated and deliberate attack.” He called the allegations fabricated and said the two Iranians will leave Paris in the coming days.
Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wednesday criticized the United Arab Emirates for accusing Iran of launching two ballistic missiles that targeted “maritime navigation” and fell into the Persian Gulf. In the weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran on Feb. 28, the UAE was frequently targeted by Iranian missiles and drones, but Tuesday’s reported attack was the first in weeks.
“This behavior is contrary to the principle of good neighborliness and disrupts ongoing efforts to strengthen trust between regional countries and prevent escalation in the region,” Esmail Baghaei said in a statement.
Not long after the incident Tuesday, the UAE Foreign Ministry said it suspended trade with Iran “in light of regional escalations that undermine regional and international peace and security.”
It comes less than a week after Abu Dhabi accused Iran of firing drones at two tankers operated by a state-owned oil company as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
