Israeli forces kill 7-month-old Palestinian infant after firing on family vehicle in West Bank

West Bank: A seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy was killed and his parents were wounded on Friday evening, June 5, after Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicle in the occupied West Bank. The infant, identified as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, died from a critical gunshot wound to the head after a bullet tore through the vehicle in the Tel Rumeida area, south of Hebron City.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the family was traveling from Bethlehem to visit the infant’s grandmother in Hebron when the shooting occurred. The baby’s grandmother stated that the family stopped their car upon spotting Israeli military vehicles and soldiers ahead.

Soldiers then opened fire on the vehicle in what the family initially assumed were warning shots. One bullet struck the infant, traversing his face and head before hitting his mother's cheek, where it became lodged. The infant’s father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand and sustained a finger injury during the incident. The mother remains hospitalized, and the infant’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday, June 6.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement on Friday expressing deep sorrow for the incident, claiming that soldiers opened fire with single shots after perceiving the vehicle to be accelerating toward them. An initial military inquiry concluded that the passengers were uninvolved civilians, and the army stated that the situation remains under review.

The fatal shooting comes amid a significant escalation of Israeli military operations in the West Bank following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the capture of 251 hostages. Israel's subsequent retaliatory campaign has killed more than 72,900 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures are widely regarded as reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts.

Human rights organizations have long criticized the lack of accountability within the Israeli military; data from the Israeli rights group Yesh Din indicates that fewer than 1 percent of 2,427 complaints alleging soldier misconduct between 2016 and 2024 resulted in indictments. Currently, more than 700,000 Israeli settlers reside in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state.

(With inputs from AP)