Funeral held for baby shot dead by Israeli troops in occupied West Bank

The funeral has taken place of a seven-month-old Palestinian baby shot dead by an Israeli soldier while in a car with his family in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Israeli military, a shot was fired when soldiers "perceived a threat" from the vehicle in the Tel Rumeida area on Friday evening.

The family say they obeyed soldiers' orders to stop and posed no danger.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged the family were "uninvolved civilians" and has expressed "deep sorrow" over the incident. The boy's father has dismissed the IDF's expression of regret.

The body of Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was laid to rest in Hebron, the day after he suffered a fatal wound from the bullet of an Israeli soldier.

His father, Fahd, was joined by a group of mourners as he carried his small shrouded body wrapped in a Palestinian flag to the graveyard.

On Friday, Fahd was driving Sam and other members of his family home from a day out in Bethlehem. They had almost reached the Israeli checkpoint just before their home.

Local residents showed me exactly where their car was hit halfway up the hill to the checkpoint.

Fahd and Sam's grandmother, Firyal, who was also in the car, have given their accounts of what happened next.

Firyal said that the family stopped the car when they saw Israeli soldiers approaching from a side road to their left. Fahd says he raised his hands after bringing the vehicle to a halt.

"The bullets struck the car," Fahd said.

"The soldier that shot at us was 10m away. The bullet penetrated the front windshield, went through my arm, and then struck my son in the head and my wife in the face."

Sam died of his wound in hospital, his mother is still being treated.

At the spot where the shooting happened, local residents pointed out to me traces of what they said was blood on the road.

One local - who did not want to be named - said he heard just two shots fired, adding that there were around four soldiers at the scene.

In its statement on the shooting, the Israeli military said that a single shot was fired after the soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating towards them".

But the IDF has acknowledged that the family were what it called "uninvolved civilians" and that the incident is under review.

Dismissing the Israeli expression of regret, Fahd said: "When more than one bullet is fired, when there's no warning shot and no warning at all, it can't be a mistake!"

Tel Rumeida has long been a flashpoint. It is an area of Hebron where Israeli settlers live among Palestinian residents. There is a heavy Israeli military presence intended to provide protection for the settlers.

Local Palestinian residents pointed out that the home of Sam's family is just on the other side of an Israeli checkpoint. A group of young Palestinian children kicking a ball about near the checkpoint belied the tension and potential for violence in the area.

Across the occupied West Bank, there has been a severe escalation in deadly confrontations between Palestinians, Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers since the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

More than 1,000 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed in the West Bank since then, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 44 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, have been killed during the same period in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.

About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attacks in southern Israel in 2023 - and 251 abducted into Gaza.

Israel launched a massive retaliatory operation in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the death of more than 70,600 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

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