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The IDF fatally shot a seven-month-old baby, Sam Fahed Abu Haykal, and moderately wounded his parents in the city of Hebron in the West Bank on Friday. Sam was evacuated in critical condition to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The IDF said the soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them" and fired "single shots" at the vehicle. "An initial inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that it "expresses deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals." Fahed Abu Haykal, Sam's father, told Haaretz that soldiers opened fire on his family's car without warning moments after he complied with an order to stop, rejecting the military's account that the shooter perceived a threat. The family, which also included the couple's 11-year-old son and Fahed's mother, had been driving through Hebron on Friday evening when soldiers signaled for the vehicle to stop, he said. According to Fahed, the sun was still out and "the soldier was about ten meters away from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and the children. The car windows were not dark, it was daylight and everything was clear. You can't say he didn't see that it was a family." Abu Haykal added that "this case must not be closed without an investigation and without accountability. At least I don't intend to give up." On Saturday, dozens of masked settlers raided four Palestinian villages on Saturday, throwing stones, vandalizing homes, setting fires and stealing livestock, according to residents and footage obtained by Haaretz. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that eight Palestinians were wounded in the raids, including five suffering from tear gas inhalation and one hit by rubber bullets after the IDF intervened. Footage from the village of Huwara showed settlers and an IDF soldier beating two Palestinians before leaving the scene. Village residents told Haaretz that settlers rampaged through it for two hours before security forces arrived. While the IDF said troops were dispatched to the area to disperse clashes, an Israeli security source later told Haaretz that the raids began after settlers reported that a sheep flock belonging to Israelis had been stolen. |
