Overview
- The shooting struck a family car in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron on Friday, killing seven-month-old Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and wounding his parents and grandmother.
- The family says they stopped when soldiers signalled them to halt and that a soldier about 10 metres away fired into the stationary vehicle, with one bullet passing through the infant and lodging in the mother's cheek.
- The Israel Defense Forces said troops perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them, that a soldier fired single shots, and that an initial inquiry found the victims were uninvolved civilians and the case is under review.
- The father has called for a full, transparent investigation and accountability, and the British Consulate in Jerusalem publicly demanded an immediate probe into the killing.
- The incident adds to rising West Bank civilian deaths since the Gaza war began and comes against a backdrop of rare prosecutions of soldiers accused of wrongdoing, raising questions about possible outcomes of the military review.