Baby Killed by Israeli Fire on West Bank Checkpoint

A seven-month-old baby was fatally shot by Israeli military fire in Hebron on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported. The infant was in the back seat of a car when a bullet passed through the front windshield and struck the child.

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The soldier was about ten meters from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children. The car windows were not tinted, it was daylight and everything was clearly visible. It is impossible to claim that he did not see that it was a family.

The baby's father, Fahed Abu Haykal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the family was stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint in the Tel Rumeidai neighborhood. He stated that after he stopped the car as instructed, soldiers immediately opened fire. Abu Haykal claims the bullet passed through his hand before hitting his son.

The baby was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and could not be saved, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Abu Haykal and his wife sustained minor injuries. He is demanding accountability for the soldier who fired the shot, asserting that the soldier could clearly see the family inside the vehicle.

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soldiers "perceived a vehicle that was accelerating towards them" and subsequently fired "single shots at the vehicle."

The Israeli military (IDF) presented a different account, stating that soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating towards them and consequently fired "single shots" at it. A preliminary investigation, according to the IDF, indicates the injured were civilians, and the military expressed "deep sorrow" that uninvolved individuals were harmed.

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A preliminary investigation shows that the injured were civilians. The IDF expresses deep sorrow that uninvolved persons have been harmed.