In brief
- Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, killing a seven-month-old Palestinian baby.
- The Israeli military said its troops perceived the car to be accelerating towards them. Initial investigations found they were uninvolved civilians.
A tragic incident unfolded in the occupied West Bank when a seven-month-old Palestinian infant was fatally shot, and his parents sustained injuries after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicle, as reported by the Palestinian health ministry.
The Israeli military explained that the soldiers targeted the car, mistaking it for a threat as it seemed to speed towards them near Hebron. Following an initial investigation, it was revealed that the three Palestinians harmed were not involved in any hostile activity.
Increased military operations by Israel and settler aggression against Palestinians have marked the region since the onset of the Gaza conflict in October 2023.
Fahd Abu Haikal, the infant’s father and a lecturer at Bethlehem University, recounted to The Associated Press that a bullet shattered their car’s windshield, injuring his right hand before hitting his son and wife in the back seat on Friday evening. AP journalists confirmed another bullet impacted the vehicle’s hood.
Tragically, the bullet that penetrated the windshield struck young Sam Fahd Abu Haikal in the face.
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“He was the entire world,” Haikal said of the boy, who turned seven months on Friday.
The mother was in critical condition, with shrapnel close to her heart.
The baby’s body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag. His father carried him. The men placed the small bundle at their feet and bowed in prayer.
The father demanded justice.
“At the end they tell you it was a mistake,” he said.
“Nothing is called a mistake.”
The baby’s grandmother, Feryal Abu Heikal, was also in the car.
She said that they were driving near a checkpoint and stopped when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. She said she initially thought the gunfire was warning shots.
“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?”
Israeli soldiers rarely punished for civilian deaths
Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are seldom penalised, and were indicted in fewer than 1 per cent of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 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 military said that riots broke out between Israelis and Palestinians, with rocks and batons, after a reported theft of livestock and soldiers dispersed them.
The military said that it was aware of footage showing a soldier using violence against a Palestinian and it was under review. Images appeared to show someone being thrown to the ground and beaten.
Huwara has seen numerous attacks in recent years. In February 2023, scores of Israeli settlers rampaged there, burning dozens of cars and homes, after a Palestinian gunman killed two settlers.
The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians, including at least 240 children, have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war in Gaza began with the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
A UN commission of inquiry found in 2022 the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was unlawful. Then-Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid disputed the claim.
Israeli strikes kill seven in Gaza
An Israeli strike on Saturday in Gaza City killed at least seven people, including two women, a girl and her father, all from the same family, according to Shifa Hospital.
Director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said that a tent near the Rimal school was struck.
Israel’s military said that it attacked what it called militants in the area.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that negotiators chaired by Khalil al-Hayyah began a new round of talks in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, in an effort to break a deadlock and move forward in implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal that took effect in October. The previous round of talks was a month ago.
Spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the talks were aimed at fully implementing the ceasefire’s first phase and ending Israel’s near-daily attacks in the territory. The fragile ceasefire began in October. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the truce has seen almost daily Israeli fire.
Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the US-created Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, acknowledged last month that the truce has stalled over the key issue of disarming Hamas.
Qassem said the talks will discuss “approaches acceptable to all parties” to implement the second phase, including addressing weapons of Palestinian militant groups and the entry of an international stabilisation force.
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