VIDEO: Israeli NGO publishes footage challenging army claims on killing of Palestinian baby

An Israeli rights group published footage Tuesday said to refute claims by the Israeli army regarding an incident in which a soldier allegedly killed a seven-month-old Palestinian infant.

Sam Fahd Abu Haikal died and his parents sustained light injuries when Israeli forces opened fire on the family's car in the city of Hebron last week, in the occupied West bank.

Shortly after the incident, which occurred on Friday, the military said its forces had fired after "soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them".

However, the footage published by the NGO B'Tselem on X shows that the car slowed down and came to a halt as it approached two Israeli soldiers.

The video does not show the troops opening fire, but shows the Palestinian family outside their car after the shooting, with the baby bleeding in his father's arms.

Shortly after the shooting, the military said it was opening an investigation into the incident, and said an initial inquiry found that the Palestinian couple and their baby were "uninvolved civilians".

The NGO further accused soldiers of failing to provide help to the wounded.

"After the shooting, the soldier who opened fire and another soldier who was with him left the scene without checking the vehicle and without providing aid to the critically injured infant and his mother," B'Tselem wrote on X.

The army told AFP it was "checking" the footage published by the NGO.

At Sam's funeral on Saturday, his father Fahd Abu Haikal said he rejected statements suggesting that the shooting was a mistake.

"When more than one bullet is fired, when there's no warning shot and no warning at all, it can't be a mistake," he said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence has sharply escalated in the Palestinian territory since the Gaza war began in 2023.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.

In the same period, at least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, Israeli official figures show.

Agence France-Presse