Israeli gunfire kills Palestinian child in the West Bank
The Israeli military said troops fired after "soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them", but added that a preliminary inquiry determined the three Palestinians were "uninvolved civilians". It said it felt "deep sorrow" over the harm caused.
A seven-month-old Palestinian boy was killed and his parents wounded after Israeli forces opened fire in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abou Haikal and said he was killed while his mother and father were injured “after the occupation forces opened fire on them on Friday evening” south of Hebron.
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The Israeli military said troops fired after “soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them”, but added that a preliminary inquiry determined the three Palestinians were “uninvolved civilians”. It said it felt “deep sorrow” over the harm caused.
Earlier, Dr Tareq Barbarawi, director of a hospital in Hebron, told AFP that the child had arrived for treatment with “serious” injuries.
Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since Israel launched its war in Gaza in October 2023. Since then, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians there, according to an AFP count based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel has occupied since 1967.
Official Israeli figures, meanwhile, show that at least 46 Israelis have been killed in attacks or in the course of Israeli military operations over the same period.
