Palestinian baby shot dead by Israeli troops in occupied West Bank

The seven-month-old, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was in his mother’s arms when soldiers fired on family in Hebron

Israeli troops killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby in the occupied West Bank and injured one of the child’s parents after opening fire on the family’s car, despite it having complied with an order to stop.

Soldiers opened fire on Friday on a car carrying the infant and his parents in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron. The seven-month-old, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was critically injured, evacuated in critical condition to a hospital, where he later died. His parents were also injured.

The Israeli military said troops had fired at a vehicle they believed was moving towards them, but an initial inquiry found those injured were uninvolved civilians.

In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz , the father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, said that “a bullet passed through his hand and struck his son, Sam, who was being held by his mother in the back seat”. Abu Haikal said the family, which also included the couple’s 11-year-old son and Abu Haikal’s mother, had been driving through Hebron on Friday evening when soldiers signalled for the vehicle to stop, he said.

He said it was still daylight and that the soldier who opened fire could clearly see the occupants were a family. “The soldier signalled me to stop. I brought the car to a complete halt and raised my hands on the steering wheel. Immediately afterwards, they opened fire on the vehicle,” he told Haaretz.

The Israel Defense Forces said its troops “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them” and one of the soldiers “responded with single shots toward the vehicle”.

“As a result, three Palestinians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment,” the IDF said, adding that “the incident is under review” and expressed “deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals”.

Abu Haikal rejected the military’s account.

“The soldier was about 10 metres away from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children,” he told Haaretz. ‘‘The windows were not tinted, it was broad daylight and everything was clear. You can’t say he didn’t see that it was a family.

“I stopped as I was instructed to, and then they simply shot at the car,” he added. “There was no clear checkpoint, just soldiers standing in the street. I stopped when I was asked to, and then the shooting started,” he said.

Abu Haikal called for an investigation and said the soldier responsible should be held to account. “I demand and expect, if there is any conscience, any law, any morality, that the soldier who fired the shots will be held accountable for his actions. This case must not be closed without an investigation and without accountability. At the very least, I do not intend to give up.”

In a similar incident, Israeli troops operating in Tamoun, in the northern Jordan valley, opened fire on a vehicle travelling through the village on 15 March, killing a Palestinian couple and two of their children . The victims were identified as Ali Bani Odeh, 38, his wife, Waad Bani Odeh, 36, and their sons Othman, six, and Mohammad, five.

According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, soldiers removed two other children from the vehicle, Khaled, 11, and Mustafa, eight, both of whom suffered minor shrapnel injuries. The organisation said the troops then subjected Khaled to a violent interrogation at the scene.

B’Tselem said the military initially prevented ambulances from reaching the area and allowed medical teams access only after a delay. The organisation added that soldiers later confiscated the family’s vehicle, which it said was riddled with bullet holes.

The UN said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, at least 240 of them children, and 49 people have been killed this year.