Israeli soldier opens fire on car, fatally shoots baby; IDF says it’s investigating
An Israeli soldier opened fire at a car, killing a Palestinian baby on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday its Military Police Criminal Investigation Division is now investigating.
The Associated Press reported that a bullet struck 7-month-old Sam Fahd Abu Haikal in the face when the soldier shot at the car. His parents were also wounded.
Bethlehem University lecturer Fahd Abu Haikal, Sam’s father, told the AP that a bullet struck the windshield, then pierced his right hand, before hitting his son and wife, who were sitting in the back seat.
“He was the entire world,” Haikal said about his son. His wife is in critical condition, Haikal said.
Feryal Abu Heikal, Sam Fahd Abu Haikal’s grandmother who was also in the car, said it was “horrific to see a 7-month-old baby with a smashed face.”
“What kind of army in the world does this?” she said to the AP.
The IDF initially put out a statement saying its soldiers “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them” in Hebron. A soldier responded with shots toward the vehicle, the IDF said. It acknowledged in the statement that the three Palestinians shot were “uninvolved civilians.”
“At least give a warning shot,” Feryal Abu Heikal said in an interview with The New York Times. “We would have reversed and left. Instead, they shot us straight away.”
Fahd Abu Haikal said to Haaretz that the soldier was about “ten meters away” from him, and could see his wife and children.
“The car windows were not dark, it was daylight and everything was clear,” he said. “You can’t say he didn’t see that it was a family.”
In its Sunday statement, the IDF said findings from the investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division will be transferred to the Military Advocate General’s Office, ABC News reported.
Human rights groups, such as Yesh Din, say it is rare for these investigations to lead to charges. According to Yesh Din, the probability of a complaint about harm caused to Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank is about 1.5%.
From 2018 and 2022, 107 cases where a Palestinian was killed by soldiers in the West Bank were opened, Yesh Din said. Only one soldier was charged in this time period, and he was given three months of community service as part of a plea bargain.
Israeli military activity, as well as settler violence against Palestinians, have increased in the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza started in October 2023.
The United Nations says that between Oct. 7, 2023 and May 13,2026, 1,095 Palestinians, including 240 children, were killed. Of these deaths, 49 happened since the beginning of 2026.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
