The father of Palestinian baby Sam Abu Haikal claims that an Israeli soldier killed his son in cold blood by shooting without warning at the family car in the southern West Bank last Friday.
During the crowded funeral held this Saturday, Fahd Abu Haikal explained that the family was traveling from Bethlehem to Hebron when they were forced to stop at an Israeli military checkpoint located in the Tel Rumeida area.
From this point, the discrepancy with the initial version disseminated by the Israeli Army begins. According to the statement from the command of the Israel Defense Forces, soldiers opened fire on the vehicle because it was approaching the checkpoint "at high speed."
Fahd, however, states that upon stopping the car, he raised his hands to signal that he did not represent a threat and that, at that moment, a soldier positioned less than ten meters away immediately shot at the front windshield, according to testimony collected by the Palestinian news agency Sanad.
The baby's grandmother, who was traveling in the back seat with the mother and the child and escaped unharmed, has supported the father's account.
For now, there is no certainty about the number of shots fired by Israeli forces. The minor died from a bullet impact in the jaw, while his mother was hit in the chest. The baby died at the hospital, and she remains stable, although still in delicate condition due to shrapnel lodged near her heart.
According to Fahd, the soldier who fired left the area with the rest of the soldiers after the operation.
The child's funeral began this Saturday at the Hebron National Hospital, where relatives said goodbye to the body, which was later taken to the Abu Aisha mosque before burial in the Wadi al Hariya cemetery.