TEL AVIV/RAMALLAH: A 3-year-old Palestinian child was seriously injured and a man hurt by shots fired by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and Palestinian authorities said on Friday.
The child's condition was critical, a hospital spokesman said.
The Palestinian authorities said the injured, a father and his son, were sitting in a car when they came under fire. The 40-year-old man was seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Ramallah, while his son was ferried to an Israeli hospital by helicopter.
According to the IDF report, two armed individuals fired "for several minutes" in the direction of Neveh Tzuf, an Israeli settlement near a military post, on Thursday evening. The troops had returned fire, hitting the man and child, the report said.
The IDF published an indistinct video clip intended to show the attackers. "The IDF regrets harm to non-combatants and is committed to doing everything in its power to prevent such incidents. The incident is under review," it said. Troops were seeking the assailants.
The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has been extremely tense for months, with repeated clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military in the West Bank.
The army has been carrying out more raids there since a series of attacks.
Since the beginning of the year, 118 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or after attacks of their own. In the same period, 18 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian were killed in attacks.
Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories, during the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. - DPA
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