Israeli soldiers shoot at a car in the West Bank; The death of a 7-month-old infant (Image source: Agence France-Presse)
A seven-month-old Palestinian baby was killed and his parents wounded after Israeli forces opened fire on their family’s vehicle in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to the child’s family and Israeli authorities.The infant, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, died of his wounds after being taken to hospital following the shooting on Friday.Sam’s father, Fahd Abu Haikal, while speaking to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, said that he complied with the soldiers’ instructions to stop the car before opening fire.“The soldier motioned for me to stop. I stopped the car completely and raised my hands on the steering wheel.
Immediately after that, they opened fire on the car.”The Israeli army says the forces felt a threatThe Israeli army said that the soldiers opened fire after they thought the car was heading towards them.However, Abu Heikal rejected suggestions that the occupants may have mistakenly believed they posed a threat, saying the car’s windows were clear and the family was visible in broad daylight.The military later stated that a preliminary investigation found that the injured were civilians and were not involved in any hostile activity.
The incident is still under review.The accident adds to the growing death tollThe shooting occurred against the backdrop of continuing violence in the occupied West Bank.According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 Palestinians, including at least 240 children, have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of the war on Gaza, the Associated Press reported.More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands that Israel occupied in 1967 from Jordan and which the Palestinians claim to establish their future state.