Israeli Fire Kills Seven-Month-Old Palestinian Infant Near Hebron, Military Probes Incident

A seven-month-old Palestinian infant was killed and his parents injured after Israeli troops opened fire on their vehicle in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian health officials and multiple reports.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal , saying he was killed on Friday evening in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron , a highly sensitive zone with frequent clashes between Israeli forces, settlers, and Palestinian residents.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA , the baby was critically wounded after a bullet struck his face , passing through him and injuring his mother. He later died of his injuries. His father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal , a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. The family was reportedly travelling from Bethlehem to Hebron to visit relatives when the shooting occurred.

Additional eyewitness details cited in international reports said the family’s car was near Checkpoint 17 , where they reportedly slowed or stopped after seeing Israeli military vehicles before shots were fired.

The infant’s funeral was expected to take place on Saturday.

The Israeli military said soldiers fired at a vehicle they perceived as accelerating toward them , during operational activity in the Hebron area. It said troops responded with single shots , wounding three Palestinians who were evacuated for treatment. The army added that an initial inquiry found the injured were uninvolved civilians , and that the incident remains under further review by military authorities .

The shooting occurred amid a broader escalation of Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank , intensified after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing Gaza war.

According to United Nations data cited in recent reports , more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, including a significant number of children, underscoring rising concerns about civilian harm in the territory.

The case has also renewed scrutiny of military accountability. Israeli rights group Yesh Din has previously reported that fewer than 1% of complaints against Israeli soldiers between 2016 and 2024 led to indictments , raising questions about oversight in cases involving civilian casualties.

Tel Rumeida, where the shooting occurred, is part of Hebron’s divided urban landscape, where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection amid Palestinian neighborhoods , making it one of the most volatile flashpoints in the West Bank.