LATEST: The Israeli army kills a baby when it opens fire on the car in which the family was traveling in the West Bank | International
World News Update:
Governments, analysts, and media outlets are continuing to follow this situation closely as additional details become available.
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, a seven-month-old Palestinian baby, was buried this Saturday in the West Bank city of Hebron hours after Israeli soldiers killed him and wounded his parents, opening fire on the vehicle in which the family was returning from visiting relatives in Bethlehem. The baby was buried with a white shroud and a Palestinian flag. The account of the relatives who witnessed the shooting and the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) points to an incident similar to that of three months ago in Tammun, another town in the West Bank (territory that Israel has occupied militarily since the Six-Day War of 1967) in which troops carrying out a raid killed the parents and two of their children by opening fire on the car in which they were traveling.Fahd Abu Haikal, 41 years old, shows a photo of her baby killed by Israeli fire, this Saturday in Hebron, in the southern West Bank.Mahmoud Illean (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)According to Abu Haikal’s grandmother, Firyal, the family stopped their car after seeing Israeli soldiers in the Tel Rumeida area, south of Hebron. One of the soldiers, however, fired and a bullet passed through the vehicle, killing the baby and wounding the parents. “Immediately after the presence of the occupation forces, an armed soldier opened fire on us. The bullets hit the car,” Fahd told Reuters. The Israeli army has assured that its soldiers fired a single shot after “perceiving a vehicle accelerating towards them.” Fahd, the father of the dead baby, has assured that the soldier who opened fire was 10 meters away and that the bullet went through the windshield, grazed his arm and then hit his son in the head and his wife in the face. Both parents were injured. Fahd, 41, has stressed that an “apology” is not enough. “It is not that the shots were fired by mistake and caused this tragedy […] Saying that it was a mistake, that ‘I didn’t know they were coming here’ or that the bullet went through the vehicle by accident, no. In this case, there is no such thing as a ‘mistake,'” he added. The family was traveling from Bethlehem (where the father teaches at the university) to visit relatives in Hebron when they encountered the soldiers, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
What Happens Next:
This event is already generating discussion among political analysts and international organizations worldwide.
Additional reactions from governments and international institutions are expected as the situation evolves.
Readers are encouraged to monitor future developments as the situation evolves.
Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.