- A Palestinian infant was killed by Israeli troops near Hebron in the West Bank
- The infant's father and grandmother were also injured during the shooting incident
- Israeli army said a soldier fired after their vehicle sped toward troops without warning
A Palestinian father burying his infant son, killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank, refused to believe on Saturday that it could have been a "mistake".
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, seven months old, was killed near Hebron on Friday evening while travelling in a car with his parents, who were also struck by Israeli army gunfire.
After a preliminary investigation, the army said one of its soldiers had opened fire on "uninvolved civilians" after their vehicle sped up in the direction of the troops.
In Hebron's cemetery, a few dozen people accompanied the father, Fahd Abu Haikal, who was holding his son's small body wrapped in a Palestinian flag, an AFP team saw.
Photo Credit: AFP
His wife, wounded in the face, is still in hospital but in stable condition, he told AFP.
"We were going from Bethlehem to Hebron. Suddenly I heard a noise, I stopped the car and raised my hands," he recounted.
"I heard gunshots and a second later I saw a bullet go through the windshield and then pierce my arm," the 42-year-old said.
"My wife was hit by a bullet that went through the right side of her face."
"I still can't grasp what happened," he 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."
- 'Yet another victim' -
The child's grandmother, Feryal Abu Haikal, 65, was also in the vehicle.
"I heard gunshots and I thought it was a warning shot to scare us into turning back, then my daughter-in-law was screaming and I saw her covered in blood," she told AFP.
"An infant who had barely begun his life became yet another victim of Israeli occupation!" the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa said on X.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence has sharply escalated in the Palestinian territory since the Gaza war began in 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians -- many of them militants, but also scores of civilians -- in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.
In the same period, at least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, Israeli official figures show.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
