A seven-month-old Palestinian infant was shot dead by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank on Friday after soldiers opened fire on the family’s car, even though the vehicle had complied with an order to stop, according to family members.
The baby, identified as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was critically wounded in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron and later died at a hospital. His parents were also injured in the attack.
The Israeli military claimed its troops fired at a vehicle they believed was moving towards them. However, an initial inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said one of its soldiers “responded with single shots toward the vehicle” and expressed “deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals”.
The child’s father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, rejected the military’s version of events. In an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, he said the family was driving through Hebron on Friday evening when soldiers signalled for them to stop.
“It was still daylight and the soldier who opened fire could clearly see the occupants were a family,” he said.
“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.
He added that a bullet passed through his hand and struck his son Sam, who was being held by his mother in the back seat. The family also included the couple’s 11-year-old son and Abu Haikal’s mother.
“The soldier was about 10 metres away from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children,” he said. “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.”
Abu Haikal demanded a proper investigation and said the soldier responsible must 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,” he said.
The IDF said the incident is under review.
In a similar incident on March 15, Israeli troops operating in Tamoun, in the northern Jordan Valley, opened fire on a vehicle travelling through the village, 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 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 subjected Khaled to a violent interrogation at the scene.
B’Tselem also said the military initially prevented ambulances from reaching the area and allowed medical teams access only after a delay. Soldiers later confiscated the family’s car, which was riddled with bullet holes, the group added.
The United Nations reported last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, at least 240 of them children. Forty-nine people have been killed so far this year.
