Military Police probing killing of Palestinian infant by soldier in the West Bank

The Military Police has launched an official investigation into the killing of a 7-month-old Palestinian infant by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday night. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the investigation on Sunday, following a preliminary examination of the incident. During the event, a soldier opened fire at a vehicle after reportedly perceiving it as accelerating toward the troops. The infant, Sam Fahd Abou Haikal, was killed, and his parents sustained injuries. The infant's brother and grandmother were also present in the vehicle. The father, Fahd Abou Haikal, told media that his wife was in critical but stable condition after being wounded by shrapnel near her heart. The IDF stated that the Military Police's Investigatory Unit conducted a preliminary review and decided to proceed with a formal investigation. The findings will be sent to the Military Advocate General for review regarding potential charges. The IDF expressed "deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals." However, the infant's father, Fahd Abou Haikal, contradicted the military's report. He stated that the vehicle had come to a complete stop before the soldier, positioned about 10 meters away, fired the fatal shot. Abou Haikal asserted that the shooting occurred in daylight, and the soldier could clearly see it was a family inside the car. He added that the soldiers fired "without warning" after the car stopped as ordered, and that the troops were patrolling the street without an obvious roadblock. The family, residents of Bethlehem, were traveling to visit relatives in Hebron at the time of the incident, according to the Palestinian Authority's official Wafa news agency.

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expresses deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals