RAMALLAH: The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli gunfire killed an infant and wounded his parents in the occupied West Bank. Sam Fahd Abou Haikal, aged seven months, died and his parents were lightly injured "after the occupation forces opened fire on them on Friday evening" in the south of the city of Hebron, the ministry said. The Israeli military said its forces had opened fire after "soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them", but said an initial inquiry found the three Palestinians were "uninvolved civilians" and expressed "deep sorrow" for any harm caused.
Dr Tareq Barbarawi, the director of a Hebron hospital, had earlier said the child had been taken into care with "serious" injuries. According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israeli army fired towards the family's car.
Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023 with Hamas's attack on Israel, near-daily violence has rocked the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians since then, including both militants and civilians, according to a tally based on Palestinian health ministry data. Official Israeli figures show that at least 46 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period. — AFP
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