THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE – A seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy named Sam Fahd Abu Haikal died after being shot in a shooting incident by Israeli troops in the Tel Rumeida area, Hebron, occupied West Bank, on Friday (5/6/2026). That day was the day Sam turned seven months old.
Reporting from The Guardian, the father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, said that “a bullet passed through his hand and hit his son, Sam, who was being carried by his mother in the back seat.”
Sam suffered serious injuries and was evacuated to hospital, but his life could not be saved. The baby’s mother was reported to be in critical condition with bullet fragments near her heart. The car they were traveling in also carried their eldest son, 11 years old, and Fahd’s mother.
Also Read: Tragic! 7 month old baby shot dead by Israeli invaders in West Bank, parents also become victims
Fahd told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that a soldier signaled his car to stop. He admitted to stopping the vehicle completely and putting both hands on the steering wheel before the shots were fired. He also said that it was still daytime so the soldiers could see clearly that the passengers were a family.
“The soldier was about 10 meters from me. He saw me, he saw my wife and children. The windows had no black film, it was still daylight and everything was clear. It cannot be said that he did not see that it was a family,” Fahd told Haaretz as quoted by The Guardian.
The Israeli military said in a statement that their troops perceived a vehicle approaching them quickly and one of the soldiers responded with a single shot at the vehicle. The military said three Palestinians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment, and expressed “deep regret for the harm caused to individuals who were not involved.” The Israeli military added that the incident was still under review.
Father Rejects Military Version and Calls for Investigation
Fahd rejected the version presented by the Israeli military. In his speech at Sam’s funeral on Saturday, he emphasized that the car was completely stopped when the shots were fired.
“A seven-month-old baby was killed in cold blood. He did not deserve this. I demand and hope, if there is still conscience, law and morality, that the soldier who opened fire will be held accountable for his actions,” said Fahd as quoted by The Guardian.
The British Consulate in Jerusalem expressed shock and sorrow at the baby’s death, and called for an immediate investigation with transparency and accountability.
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, soldiers accused of harming Palestinians rarely face punishment. Based on 2,427 complaints of alleged misconduct between 2016 and 2024, less than one percent of cases resulted in charges.
The UN said last month more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the war began, at least 240 of them children.
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip on Saturday (6/6/2026), an Israeli shooting incident killed nine people according to local medical and civil defense sources. The Israeli military said one of the victims was a Hamas “terrorist cell commander”.***
