Israel admits its soldiers opened fire at car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab | First Thing

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The Israeli military admitted on Wednesday its troops had opened fire on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab and six family members in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing.

The death of Hind and her family was one of the most high profile of a series of incidents involving the killings of civilians during the first months of Israel’s war on Gaza, and it led to international outrage.

Hind died after a desperate three-hour phone call to the Palestinian Red Crescent on 29 January 2024 in which she pleaded for rescue. The family’s Kia Picanto car had been hit as the family sought to flee a new Israeli offensive into Gaza City. All the other passengers were also killed. Their bodies were retrieved 12 days later when Israeli troops withdrew.

• What prompted the investigation? The Israel Defense Forces repeatedly denied its troops had been in the area, but investigations by the media and others found evidence that strongly suggested nearby Israeli tanks were responsible.

• How significant is it? The IDF published reviews on Wednesday into five high-profile incidents in Gaza. But criminal misconduct investigations into Israeli troops over the killing of Palestinians rarely lead to convictions. A UN report published in February described “a pervasive climate of impunity” by Israel in occupied Palestine.

• What is the wider context? In September last year, a UN commission found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, citing tens of thousands of civilian deaths and massive destruction.

Meta has taken a “don’t ask, don’t tell” strategy when it comes to the safety of children on its social media platforms, according to a whistleblower who testified during a landmark trial against the company on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Arturo Béjar, a former Meta safety engineer, told the jury that the company was aware of the harm its products caused children, which included its recommendations pushing content from sexual predators and violent and graphic images. He said he repeatedly raised the issue to Facebook and Instagram executives but they did little to resolve it.

• What did Béjar say in his testimony? That his job often included him briefing Meta’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, on product issues. He estimated that he spoke to Zuckerberg at least 100 times. One email Béjar sent to Zuckerberg in 2021 showed the engineer warning of constant reports of harmful content and damage to teenage wellbeing on Facebook and Instagram. Béjar said he emailed Zuckerberg after the chief executive publicly said the company did not prioritize profit over safety. Meta denies all allegations in the case.

Democratic socialist Angie Nixon emerged a surprise victor in the US Senate primary on Tuesday, after a campaign in which she was outfunded and outspent by Alexander Vindman at a ratio of more than 10 to one.

Her triumph sent shockwaves through the Democratic party machine. There have been a series of primary wins for progressive candidates this summer, including in Philadelphia, Colorado, Michigan and New York City. Nixon only recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America, and was not endorsed by them.

In other news …

• More than 100 people have died after an artisanal goldmine at a small village in western Central African Republic caved in due to a landslide, local officials and aid workers said on Wednesday, with many others trapped under the deluge.

• The US has faced a critical shortage of firefighters at the US Forest Service this summer as thousands of fires have burned, according to nine USFS firefighters who spoke to the Guardian’s Gabrielle Canon anonymously.

• The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph and the Sun.

• The actor Tom Holland, 30, is expected to “make at least $100m” from Spider-Man: Brand New Day, according to the Wrap. The movie has already surpassed $2bn in ticket sales.

Stat of the day: US gross national debt tops $40tn for first time

The US debt reached $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, the Treasury department said, after years of growing government spending. During his first term, Donald Trump approved $8.4tn of debt, with a huge chunk going to Covid-19 relief spending, while Joe Biden approved $4.3tn of debt, according to the committee for a responsible federal budget.

The Filter recommends: 25 tech essentials for college students

The Guardian’s Filter US team tested every item on this list, and picked the best tech and accessories for navigating campus life – from tablets and laptops to help with studying, to gaming systems and portable projectors for university downtime.

A trove of Federal Communications Commission documents – obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Democracy Forward, and seen by the Guardian’s Jeremy Barr – sheds light on the close working relationship between Brendan Carr, the FCC chair, his top staffers and members of Donald Trump’s White House team. Between 12 March 2025 and 11 February 2026, Carr attended at least eight meetings at the White House, according to the records.

Climate check: The threatening thaw – a climate professor on heatwave risks to tipping point of permafrost

Heatwaves and wildfires are not just scorching forests, they are adding to the tipping point risks in the world’s vast permafrost regions, which contain three times more carbon than all the living vegetation on Earth. Check out the Guardian’s Q&A with Gustaf Hugelius, a professor at Stockholm University.

Last Thing: ‘Should my partner stop hogging my side of the bed?’ – You be the judge

“My partner, Dave, and I are two stubborn boys who both adore a great night’s sleep. But we cannot settle a disagreement about which side of the bed belongs to whom,” Pádraig writes. “He thinks the sides we sleep on should be interchangeable … Now I’m tossing and turning.” Check out Dave’s defense, and views from a jury of Guardian readers. Whose side are you on?

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