Ask Onix
Funeral held for seven-month-old Palestinian boy
Hebron mourned Sam Fahd Abu Haikal on Sunday after an Israeli soldier fatally shot the infant in a car carrying his family near a military checkpoint.
Family recounts moments before shooting
Fahd Abu Haikal was driving his wife, mother, and son home from Bethlehem on Friday evening when soldiers signaled the vehicle to stop in Tel Rumeida, a tense neighborhood in Hebron. Witnesses said the family complied immediately.
Fahd told reporters he raised both hands after braking. Within seconds, gunfire struck the car. A bullet shattered the windshield, passed through Fahd's arm, then hit his son in the head and his wife in the face. Sam died in hospital; his mother remains hospitalized.
Firyal Abu Haikal, the boy's grandmother, confirmed the account. "The soldier who fired stood only ten meters away," she said. Residents later showed journalists bloodstains on the road where the car had stopped.
Israeli military acknowledges civilian status
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them" and fired a single shot. In a later statement, the IDF conceded the family were "uninvolved civilians" and expressed "deep sorrow." The incident is under internal review.
"When more than one bullet is fired, when there's no warning shot and no warning at all, it can't be a mistake!"
Fahd Abu Haikal, father of Sam
Neighborhood marked by decades of tension
Tel Rumeida is a flashpoint in Hebron where Israeli settlers live alongside Palestinian families under heavy military protection. Sam's home lies just beyond an Israeli checkpoint. On Sunday, children played soccer nearby, masking the area's volatility.
Since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, violence in the West Bank has surged. Palestinian health ministry figures report over 1,000 Palestinians-militants and civilians-killed since then. At least 44 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have died in Palestinian attacks or military operations during the same period.
Broader context of violence
The October 7 attacks killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in 251 hostages taken to Gaza. Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza has claimed more than 70,600 lives, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
