Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank killed a 7-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at the parents’ vehicle, Palestinian health officials said. The father, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, said a bullet struck the car’s windshield before injurin
HEBRON, West Bank — In the moments after the shooting on Friday evening in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, the family says the sound of gunfire turned into a scene that still won’t leave their minds.
Palestinian health officials said Israeli troops killed a 7-month-old Palestinian baby boy, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, after firing at his parents’ vehicle. The ministry said the baby’s parents were wounded while driving.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA said the baby was critically wounded after being struck in the face by the same bullet that injured his mother. The baby later died of his injuries. WAFA reported that his father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. The family was traveling from Bethlehem to visit relatives in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency said.
Israel’s military said the soldiers shot at a vehicle perceived to be accelerating toward them in the Hebron area. The military said the troops responded with single shots, wounding three Palestinians who were evacuated for medical treatment. It said an initial inquiry found the wounded were uninvolved civilians and that the situation was under review.
At Al-Ahly Hospital in Hebron, the baby’s father told reporters that a bullet struck the car’s windshield before piercing his right hand. He said his son and wife were in the back seat when they were hit. Reporters who saw the vehicle said another bullet struck the hood.
His wife is in critical condition because there’s shrapnel close to her heart, he said. The family told his wife that their son — who turned seven months old on Friday — was killed, just before heading to funeral prayers.
The family’s pain did not end at the hospital gates. The baby’s grandmother. Feryal Abu Heikal. said she was also in the car and that they were driving near a checkpoint when they stopped after seeing Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. As the forces fired at them, she initially thought it was warning shots before they were struck.
“The scene was horrific to see a 7-month-old baby with a smashed face,” she said. “What kind of army in the world does this? … What happened to my grandson can’t be easily forgotten.”
The funeral service was held at noon at a nearby mosque. The baby’s tiny body was wrapped in the Palestinian flag as people lined up for prayers before taking him in an ambulance for burial. At the ambulance, Abu Haikal was seen crying and hugging his infant’s half-brother.
The killing came as Israel continues to carry out operations in the West Bank after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that Israel says killed some 1,200 people and took 251 people hostage, triggering the war in Gaza. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 72,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Last month. the United Nations said more than 1. 000 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war began. including at least 240 children.
The British Consulate in Jerusalem said it was “shocked and saddened” by the Israeli killing of the baby, calling on X for an “immediate and transparent investigation and accountability.”
Also on Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said eight people were wounded in settler attacks on the town of Huwara, near Nablus, including from tear gas inhalation and rubber-coated metal bullets.
Israel’s account of events has drawn little change in accountability. In another case mentioned by Palestinian authorities. Israeli soldiers fired on a car carrying a family in the northern West Bank in March. killing four people. including two children. according to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry at the time. Yesh Din. an Israeli rights group. said Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are rarely penalized and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2. 427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024.
The West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state — are where more than 700. 000 Israelis live. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
For the family in Hebron, the questions are immediate and personal: what was perceived in the split-second decision to fire, and how something so small — a seven-month-old baby boy — became the casualty.
Hebron West Bank Israeli troops Palestinian baby Sam Fahd Abu Haikal Fahd Abu Haikal Tel Rumeida Al-Ahly Hospital Hamas attack Gaza war UN West Bank deaths Yesh Din
That’s just awful. How does a 7-month-old even get caught in this.
Wait so the Israelis were firing at a car that they thought was accelerating?? A baby in the back and it’s “single shots” like… come on. The article makes it sound like some accident but it’s still a dead infant.
I don’t really get how they can tell the car was accelerating from far away, and then it ends up in the baby’s face. Also the dad is a lecturer at Bethlehem University, so that part just makes it feel more targeted? Or maybe I’m reading too much into it. Either way, somebody should be held responsible.
“Under review” is the thing that kills me. Like yea ok, check the notes and see if it was justified. If the bullet went through the windshield first then what were they aiming at, the hood? I swear every time it’s the same story and nobody learns anything.