The case of the Palestinian infant Sam Abu Haikal, who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in the city of Hebron four days ago, is still generating media attention, as footage showed the moment the Abu Haikal family’s vehicle was shot at in Hebron without any security justification last Friday.
The human rights organization B’Tselem published footage that it said showed the moment the infant’s family’s vehicle was shot at, confirming that the occupation soldiers committed a civilian execution against the infant.
B’Tselem confirmed that the footage shows how the Abu Haikal family’s vehicle was slowing down, preparing to stop away from the soldiers, when they opened fire, without the vehicle posing any danger to them at all.
The account provided by the Israeli human rights organization contradicts the claims made by the occupation army in its statement commenting on the crime.
The video released by B’Tselem included footage showing the infant Sam’s father holding him in his arms and trying to stop the bleeding from his head with his hands, while Sam’s mother, Dania, who was also shot, appeared holding her son, sitting on the ground next to the car.
B’Tselem noted that the soldier who killed the child and another soldier who was with him left the scene of the crime without inspecting the car or providing any assistance to the seriously injured child or his mother.
In an interview with Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Karim Jubran, a researcher at the B’Tselem Foundation, said that the occupation army’s investigations are part of a policy of obscuring the truth, noting that the army’s investigations into itself cannot produce any real results in the course of justice.
He added that the killing of children does not change anything in Israeli society or the army, as “the incidents occur periodically, and are part of a policy of a light hand on the trigger, reflecting contempt and disregard for the lives of Palestinians, as thousands of children and citizens have been killed in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.”
He stressed that “this is an old-new policy that has not stopped during the past years, but what is different this time is that it is accompanied by a complete disregard for the life of the Palestinian, as the life of the Palestinian person is not taken into account in any way.”
He said that targeting children is part of the genocidal system that the Palestinian people have been subjected to over the past three years.
He added: “We are witnessing a disregard for the lives of Palestinians and a complete absence of accountability, a policy that ignores all killings, whether of children or the elderly.”
He concluded that the occupation does not give any weight to the Palestinians, “As for what we see in terms of attempts to conduct internal investigations, they are related to the existence of a media uproar over some cases of killing and execution, but they are investigations without accountability, and their goal is to obscure the truth and nothing else.”
It is worth noting that the video matches the account given by Alaa Abu Haikal, the uncle of the martyr Sam, as he stated that the family members were surprised by the presence of a force from the occupation army in the Wadi al-Hariya area near Tel Rumeida, so his brother stopped the vehicle as soon as he noticed the soldiers a few meters away, but that did not prevent them from firing at the car.
Abu Haikal confirmed that when the vehicle was fired directly at, there was no danger to the soldiers, indicating that Fahd was hit by a bullet in his hand.
The second bullet entered through the jaw of the child Sam, penetrated his skull, and exited through his head before hitting his mother, who was holding him.
According to the family, Fahd Abu Haikal lives and works in Bethlehem as a university lecturer. He was keen for his mother to spend some time with him over the weekend before he took her back to their home in Hebron on Friday evening. As sunset approached, he decided to drive her home, but the last road to the house turned into the last road in his infant son's life.
For its part, the Haaretz newspaper confirmed that the Israeli soldier did not provide assistance to the Palestinian family, even though he shot at them.
The documentation shows the Palestinian family's vehicle slowing down, and the Israeli soldier pointing his weapon at it, but it is unclear at what point he fired.
In another video, according to the newspaper, the moment people gathered trying to reach the site to offer assistance is shown, while the soldiers did not come forward to offer help.
For his part,the Israeli army spokesperson acknowledged that the targeted family members were not involved in any security or military activity. The army's initial justification was that the soldiers mistakenly believed the car was accelerating toward them, a claim frequently made in cases of civilian killings.
It is worth noting that international organizations previously stated that a Palestinian child was killed every two days in the West Bank, according to statistics issued by UNESCO in 2024.
In 2025, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced that Israeli occupation forces had killed 70 Palestinian children in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The organization explained in its reports that this number represents an average of one child per week, and that 93% of these children were killed by the bullets of the occupation forces.
The key details announced by the United Nations include the casualty toll, with more than 850 Palestinian children injured during the same period, as well as the nature of the injuries, with most of the killings and assaults resulting from the use of live ammunition, while other children were stabbed, beaten, and assaulted with pepper spray.
UN warnings were conveyed by the organization’s spokesperson, James Elder, who said that children are paying an “unbearable price” as a result of escalating military operations and settler attacks, stressing that what is happening represents a continuing pattern of serious violations.
