Israeli forces kill 7-month-old Palestinian infant, youth in West Bank

A seven-month-old Palestinian infant died from his wounds on Friday after Israeli forces opened fire on his family's vehicle in the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, reported Xinhua. The infant, identified as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, was critically wounded when Israeli forces fired on the car in the Tel Rumeida area, south of Hebron, and was later pronounced dead at the hospital, the ministry said in a statement. His mother and father sustained moderate injuries. The infant's father is a lecturer at Bethlehem University, and he lives with his wife and the son in Bethlehem, also in the southern West Bank, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported. The family was on their way to visit a relative's home in central Hebron when the shooting happened, WAFA said. Following the incident, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that "during operational activity in the area of Hebron, IDF soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them." "An IDF soldier responded with single shots toward the vehicle. As a result, three Palestinians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment," it said, adding that an initial inquiry found that those injured were "uninvolved civilians" and the incident is under review. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday that its elite unit killed a Palestinian who threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles in the West Bank overnight. Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported that the deceased was identified as 18-year-old Haitham Ezzedine Omar Hmeida. According to the Israeli army, during a targeted operational activity in the village of Beitin near Ramallah, the soldiers identified several Palestinians who threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli vehicles on a main road. It added that the soldiers shot at the throwers, killing one of them, and began chasing the others. WAFA quoted local sources as saying that Israeli forces stormed the village, triggered confrontations with residents, and fired live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades. It also reported that the raid sparked a fire on agricultural land in the center of the village.