Palestinian baby killed by Israeli gunfire in occupied West Bank, health ministry says

A seven-month-old Palestinian baby was killed and his parents were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Tel Rumeida area south of the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday evening, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal and said he was killed at the scene, while his parents were wounded in the shooting and were in moderate condition.

The baby's grandmother said the family was driving near Checkpoint 17 when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance and stopped the car. She said shots were then fired toward them, which they initially believed were warning shots.

"One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head, striking his mother's cheek where it lodged," she said, adding that the bullet had also grazed the father's finger, and that the mother was in hospital.

The Israeli military said that during operational activity in the Hebron area on Friday, soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them and one soldier fired single shots at the vehicle. It said three Palestinians were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment.

An initial military inquiry found that those injured were "uninvolved civilians", the military said, adding that the incident was under review and that the findings would be submitted to the relevant authorities.

Tel Rumeida, an area of Hebron where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection among Palestinian residents, has long been a flashpoint for violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over 700,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among more than 3 million Palestinians, according to a European Union report ​in 2024.

-Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Additional reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani/Reuters