IDF soldier fires at vehicle in Hebron, killing 7-month-old baby and wounding his parents

An Israeli soldier opened fire Friday at a vehicle in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, killing a seven-month-old baby and lightly wounding his parents. The military later expressed “deep sorrow” over the incident.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, during operational activity in Hebron, troops “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them.” One soldier then fired “single shots toward the vehicle.”

“An initial inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians,” the IDF said, adding that the incident was under investigation, the findings of which will be “submitted for review by the relevant authorities.”

“The IDF expresses deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals,” the army added.

The Palestinian Authority identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abou Haikal, saying he was fatally wounded and his parents lightly injured “after the occupation forces opened fire on them on Friday evening” in Hebron’s Tel Rumeida neighborhood.

The infant’s father, Fahd Abou Haikal, said Saturday that his wife was in critical condition.

Fahd Abou Haikal told Haaretz that his family’s car came to a full stop before a soldier standing some 10 meters (11 yards) away fired the fatal shot.

The shooting occurred about 7:30 p.m., in daylight, and the soldier “saw me, saw my wife and the kids,” Abou Haikal said. “You can’t say he didn’t see it was a family.”

The soldiers opened fire “without warning” after he brought the car to a full stop on their orders, Abou Haikal said, adding that the troops were patrolling the street, but had not set up an obvious roadblock.

At the hospital in Hebron, the baby’s father told Associated Press reporters that a bullet struck the car’s windshield before piercing his right hand, then his son and wife who were in the back seat. Another bullet struck the vehicle’s hood, according to AP reporters who saw the car.

His wife is in critical condition because there is shrapnel close to her heart, he said. However, he told AFP that her condition was stable.

The baby’s grandmother, Feryal Abu Heikal, was also in the car during the shooting and said they were driving near a checkpoint and stopped when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. As the forces fired at them, she initially thought it was warning shots before they were struck, she said.

“One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head, striking his mother’s cheek where it lodged,” she said.

The funeral service was held at noon on Saturday at a nearby mosque. The tiny body was wrapped in the Palestinian flag as people lined up for prayers before taking him in an ambulance for burial. At the ambulance, Abou Haikal was seen crying and hugging the infant’s half-brother.

“What happened to us is not a matter of an apology. What happened is not that shots were fired by mistake and led to this tragedy,” he said. “To say it happened by mistake, that ‘I didn’t know you were coming here,’ or that the bullet passed through by accident — no. There is no such thing as ‘by mistake’ in this case.”

The family lives in Bethlehem and was traveling to visit family in Hebron at the time of the shooting, according to the PA’s official Wafa news agency.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.