Israeli Soldiers Shoot at Accelerating Vehicle at West Bank Checkpoint, Killing Palestinian Infant

A seven-month-old Palestinian boy died after Israeli soldiers fired at his family's car near Hebron on Friday evening, the Palestinian health ministry said. The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and said he died at the scene in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron. His parents were wounded and remained in moderate condition.

The baby's grandmother said the family was driving near Checkpoint 17 when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers and stopped the car. She said shots were then fired toward them, which they initially believed were warning shots. "One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head, striking his mother's cheek where it lodged," she said, adding that the bullet had also grazed the father's finger.

The Israeli military said that during operational activity in the Hebron area on Friday, soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them and one soldier fired single shots at the vehicle. It said three Palestinians were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment.

An initial military inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians, the military said, adding that the incident was under review.

Hebron where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection among Palestinian residents, has long been a flashpoint for violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Over 700,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among more than 3 million Palestinians, according to a European Union report in 2024.

The seven-month-old boy's shrouded body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and carried by his father to the graveyard on Saturday.