Seven-month-old Sam was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier in Hebron on Friday [Getty]
A newly released video has shown the moment when an Israeli soldier opened fire on the Abu Haikal family south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, last Friday – killing seven-month-old baby Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and injuring his parents.
The footage was released by Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem late on Tuesday, clearly showing how the army officer fired at the car as it was slowing to a stop, far from the group of soldiers gathered on the road.
The rights group said it was clear, from the video, that the vehicle posed “no danger whatsoever” to them.
In another video obtained by B’Tselem, Sam’s father, Fahd, is seen in the first moments after his son was shot, carrying his infant child in his arms while attempting to stop the bleeding from his head.
The footage also shows the child’s mother, Dania, who was also wounded by the gunfire, holding her son while lying on the road beside the family vehicle.
B’Tselem Executive Director Yuli Novak said, “Over the past two and a half years, Israel has killed tens of thousands of children in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
“The impunity provided by the international community to Israel has led to a situation in which the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli control have become entirely expendable, even when the child is only seven months old,” she added.
The rights group explained how the Palestinian family was returning from a family visit when they encountered the Israeli soldiers near Checkpoint 17 in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood – an area of Hebron where Israeli settlers live under constant protection of Israeli forces.
“After the shooting, the soldier who opened fire and another soldier accompanying him left the scene without searching the vehicle and without providing any medical assistance to the critically injured infant or to his mother,” B’Tselem added.
Friday’s incident has sparked widespread outrage, with the Palestinian child’s family disputing Israeli military claims that they had perceived a “threat” from the vehicle.
Baby Sam – who turned exactly seven months old on the day he was killed – is the latest victim of an expanding wave of deadly attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers, which have killed at least 1,169 Palestinians since October 2023.
Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here.
