A seven-month-old Palestinian baby was killed and his parents were wounded after an IDF soldier opened fire on their family vehicle in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron on Friday, according to Palestinian reports and the Israeli military.
The baby, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was traveling with his parents, grandmother and 11-year-old brother when the shooting occurred. His parents were moderately wounded, while the infant suffered critical injuries and later died. His mother remains hospitalized in intensive care and has not yet been informed of her son's death, according to family members.
The IDF said troops operating in the area believed a vehicle was accelerating toward them, prompting a soldier to fire several shots.
"An initial inquiry indicates the occupants were uninvolved civilians," the IDF said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation and its findings will be reviewed by the relevant authorities. The IDF regrets any harm caused to uninvolved individuals."
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The the baby's father, a lecturer at a university in Bethlehem
(Photo: AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
A security source said the soldier fired two shots after perceiving the vehicle as a threat.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the baby's father, a lecturer at a university in Bethlehem, was driving to visit his mother in Tel Rumeida when the vehicle came under fire. The father was wounded in the hand, and the same bullet reportedly struck his wife before hitting the child in the jaw.
The baby's grandmother, Prial Abu Haikal, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, disputed the military's account. Speaking to ynet on Saturday, she said the family was driving slowly because of road conditions and was about 10 meters from a group of soldiers when the shot was fired.
"I heard my daughter-in-law screaming, 'My son, my son,' and he was covered in blood," she said. "We were driving slowly. My son raised his hands to show he was not a threat, but the bullet hit his hand and continued into the vehicle."
She said the family had been making its regular weekly trip and had no reason to expect trouble. After the shooting, she said, soldiers left the scene without providing assistance.
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Child's parents were moderately wounded, while the infant suffered critical injuries and later died
(Photo: AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
"I ask the army: if you thought the car endangered you, why didn't you stay afterward? Why wasn't help provided immediately? Why were the security cameras that documented the incident taken?" she said. "We are a quiet family that wanted to live in peace."
The grandmother also rejected claims that the vehicle accelerated toward soldiers, saying the family had been at a complete stop and had done nothing that could have been perceived as threatening.
The incident comes amid ongoing scrutiny of civilian casualties in the West Bank. In March, an undercover Israeli Border Police unit opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Tammun, killing a Palestinian couple and two of their young children. Two other children in the vehicle were lightly wounded. Family members said they had been returning from Nablus after shopping for Ramadan when the shooting began.