One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head
In the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, a seven-month-old boy named Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed by Israeli gunfire on a Friday evening, his parents wounded beside him near a military checkpoint in Tel Rumeida. The Israeli military says soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them; the family says they had stopped upon seeing soldiers in the distance. An initial inquiry has already concluded the victims were uninvolved civilians, and yet the question that lingers — as it so often does in places where two peoples live in armed proximity — is not only what happened, but what conditions make such tragedies not only possible, but recurring.
- A bullet passed through the face and head of a seven-month-old infant and lodged in his mother's cheek — a single round that ended one life and left two others hospitalized in moderate condition.
- The military and the family offer irreconcilable accounts: soldiers who saw a vehicle accelerating toward them, and a grandmother who says the family had already stopped their car when the shooting began.
- Israel's own initial inquiry has found that those struck were uninvolved civilians, yet the military has not explained what triggered the perception of threat or whether warning procedures were followed before lethal force was used.
- Tel Rumeida, where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection among Palestinian residents, remains one of the West Bank's most volatile flashpoints — a neighborhood where the architecture of occupation makes every encounter a potential crisis.
- With over 700,000 settlers living among more than 3 million Palestinians across the occupied territories, the death of an infant is forcing renewed scrutiny of the rules of engagement governing the use of force in densely civilian spaces.
On a Friday evening in Tel Rumeida, a neighborhood in Hebron where Israeli settlers live under military protection among Palestinian residents, a seven-month-old boy named Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was shot and killed. His parents were wounded in the same incident near Checkpoint 17, both hospitalized in moderate condition.
The family's account, relayed by the child's grandmother, describes a car that had already stopped upon spotting Israeli soldiers at a distance — a moment of caution that was met, without warning, with gunfire. One bullet entered the infant's face, passed through his head, and came to rest in his mother's cheek. The same round grazed his father's finger.
The Israeli military offered a different version: soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them and one soldier fired single shots in response. The military acknowledged that three Palestinians were wounded and evacuated for treatment. Notably, an initial military inquiry has since concluded that those struck were uninvolved civilians. The incident remains under review, with findings to be submitted to relevant authorities — though the military has not addressed what specifically prompted the perception of threat, or whether any warning was issued before the trigger was pulled.
Tel Rumeida is among the most heavily militarized and contested spaces in the West Bank, where the daily reality of settlers and Palestinians living in close, guarded proximity has long produced friction and violence. A 2024 European Union report placed the settler population across East Jerusalem and the West Bank at over 700,000, living among more than 3 million Palestinians. In such a landscape, the death of an infant in a stopped car raises questions that an ongoing military review alone may struggle to answer: what protocols govern the use of lethal force where children move freely, and what accountability follows when those protocols fail.
On a Friday evening in the Tel Rumeida section of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, a seven-month-old boy named Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was shot and killed. His parents were wounded in the same incident. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the death and identified the location as an area south of Hebron, near Checkpoint 17.
According to the child's grandmother, the family was driving when they spotted Israeli military vehicles and soldiers at a distance. They stopped their car. Then gunfire erupted toward them. At first, the family thought the shots were warnings. But one bullet entered the infant's face, passed through his head, and continued into his mother's cheek, where it lodged. The same round grazed the father's finger. The mother was hospitalized in moderate condition, as was the father.
The Israeli military offered a different account. During operational activity in the Hebron area that Friday, soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them, the military said. One soldier fired single shots at the vehicle in response. The military acknowledged that three Palestinians were wounded and evacuated for medical treatment.
An initial military inquiry into the shooting concluded that those injured were uninvolved civilians. The incident remains under review, with findings to be submitted to relevant authorities. The military did not specify what prompted the perception that the vehicle was accelerating toward soldiers, nor did it explain the circumstances that led to the decision to fire.
Tel Rumeida is not an ordinary neighborhood. It is a section of Hebron where Israeli settlers live under heavy military protection, interspersed among Palestinian residents. The area has a long history as a flashpoint for violence in the West Bank. The demographic reality underlying this tension is stark: according to a 2024 European Union report, over 700,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank among a Palestinian population exceeding 3 million. In Tel Rumeida specifically, this coexistence is tense and heavily militarized.
The death of a seven-month-old raises questions about the protocols governing the use of force in areas where civilians, including children, move freely. The military's account—that soldiers perceived a threat and responded—stands against the grandmother's description of a family that stopped their vehicle upon seeing military presence. What constituted the perceived acceleration, and whether warning procedures were followed before lethal force was used, remain unclear. The ongoing review may provide answers, but for now, the incident underscores the volatility of life in settlements where two populations live in close, guarded proximity.
Citas Notables
One bullet struck my grandson, traversed his face and crossed his head, striking his mother's cheek where it lodged.— The infant's grandmother, describing the shooting
An initial military inquiry found that those injured were uninvolved civilians, with the incident under review and findings to be submitted to relevant authorities.— Israeli military statement
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does the grandmother's account of stopping the car matter so much?
Because it suggests the family was trying to comply with what they saw—military presence ahead. If they stopped, they weren't accelerating. The gap between those two versions is where the whole incident lives.
The military said an inquiry found them to be uninvolved civilians. Doesn't that settle it?
It settles one question—that they weren't combatants. But it doesn't explain why uninvolved civilians were shot, or what the soldier perceived that made him fire. An inquiry can confirm innocence without clarifying the trigger.
Is Tel Rumeida uniquely dangerous, or is this pattern common across the West Bank?
Tel Rumeida is known as a flashpoint, but the underlying condition—settlers and Palestinians living in close quarters with heavy military presence—exists across occupied territory. What makes Tel Rumeida notable is how compressed and visible the tension is.
What happens now?
The military review continues. The family grieves. The checkpoint remains. And the next family drives through the same area, carrying the same uncertainty about what a soldier might perceive.