Father vows to fight for justice for baby killed by Israeli troops

A Palestinian father is determined to fight for justice after his infant son was killed by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. The seven-month-old baby, Sam Abu Haikal, was shot in the head while sitting in the back seat of his family's car.

“

Sam was everything, the smile in my house.

The incident occurred on Friday when, according to the Israeli military, soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them near Hebron. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday it has launched a criminal investigation into the shooting, which has drawn significant public scrutiny. The family insists they had stopped their vehicle when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers.

“

I was beside him until the last moment. I hugged him, [he was] cold. It's not easy to hold your son in the morning, the warm body, and in the evening, you hold him with a cold body. All the innocent dreams, everything dies with him.

Fahd Abu Haikal, the baby's father, recounted the harrowing moments, stating the bullet pierced the car's windscreen before hitting his wife in the cheek and neck and then striking their son. He described the profound grief of holding his son's lifeless body after rushing him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "Sam was everything, the smile in my house," Abu Haikal told ABC News, his voice filled with shock and sorrow.

“

Soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them. An IDF soldier responded by firing single shots toward the vehicle.

Video footage shows the immediate aftermath of the shooting, with Sam in his father's arms, covered in blood, while family members can be heard screaming. The baby's grandmother, who was also in the car, stated they had stopped near a checkpoint upon seeing soldiers. The father asserted that there was "no warning" before the soldier fired directly at the car, adding that another shot hit the vehicle's engine. His 11-year-old son, Kinan, initially mistook the sound for a stun grenade before realizing it was a bullet.

“

They shoot the first bullet in the windshield directly, the other one in the car engine.