7-Month-Old Palestinian Baby Killed After Israeli Troops Shoot At Family Car

Israeli troops shot and killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby in the occupied West Bank on Friday after opening fire on a family car in Hebron, according to the child's family and Israeli authorities.

The infant, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was critically wounded in the shooting and later died in hospital. His parents were also injured. The family said they had stopped their vehicle after being ordered to do so by Israeli soldiers in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron.

Speaking to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Sam's father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, said a bullet struck his hand before hitting his son, who was sitting in the back seat with his mother.

"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.

Abu Haikal said the family was travelling with their 11-year-old son and his mother when the shooting took place. He rejected any suggestion that the soldiers could have mistaken the vehicle's occupants.

"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."

Israeli Military Says Incident Under Review

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said soldiers opened fire after they believed a vehicle was accelerating towards them, according to a report by the Guardian.

According to the military, 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 expressing "deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals".

An initial military inquiry later found that those injured were civilians who were not involved in any hostile activity.

Father Demands Accountability

Abu Haikal said he expects a full investigation and wants the soldier involved to be held responsible.

"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."

The shooting comes months after another deadly incident in the northern Jordan Valley village of Tamoun, where Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle in March, killing a Palestinian couple and two of their young children.

According to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, two surviving children were removed from the vehicle, and one of them was interrogated at the scene. The group also said ambulances were initially prevented from reaching the family.

The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the Gaza war, including at least 240 children. It said 49 Palestinians have been killed in the territory so far this year.