Footage has emerged that appears to contradict the Israeli military’s account of the shooting that killed seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal in his mother’s arms, showing the family’s car slowing near a military post before soldiers opened fire.
The Israel Defense Forces said its troops had “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them” and that one of the soldiers had “responded with single shots toward the vehicle”. However, footage obtained by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights, B’Tselem, contradicts IDF claims that the car in which the Abu Haikal family was travelling was accelerating towards them when they shot.
“The footage clearly shows that the Israeli soldier fired at the car as it was slowing to a stop,” B’Tselem said in a statement. “The car was far from the soldiers and posed no danger to them whatsoever.” In another video, seven-month-old Sam’s father is seen holding the baby in his arms, trying to stop the bleeding from his head with his hands, while his mother, who was also injured, is sitting on the ground next to the car.
The father, Fahd Abu Haikal, told Haaretz: “I brought the car to a complete halt and raised my hands on the steering wheel. Immediately afterwards, they opened fire… The car was completely stationary when he shot at us, it wasn’t moving at all. A seven-month-old infant killed in cold blood.” The footage also showed Israeli soldiers failing to assist the family, instead standing by as civilians rushed to help.
The UN said in March that more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 2023, at least 240 of them children. Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are rarely penalised; less than 1% of 2,427 complaints between 2016 and 2024 led to indictments, according to Yesh Din. The IDF expressed “deep sorrow for any harm caused to uninvolved individuals” and the military police have opened an investigation.
