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A seven-month-old Palestinian boy, identified as Sam Fahd Abu Haikal,was shot and killed on Friday evening when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents near the Tel Rumeida checkpoint in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. the incident has sparked outrage and highlighted the extreme rarity of accountability for Israeli forces,as rights groups report less than 1% of complaints lead to indictment.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, a bullet struck the infant in the face. His father, Fahd Abu Haikal, a Bethlehem University lecturer, and his mother were wounded. The family was passing near an Israeli military presence when gunfire erupted.

The father recounted that a bullet first hit the windshield, then passed through his right hand before striking his son and wife in the back seat. A second bullet impacted the hood of the car.

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The Israeli military provided a different account, stating that soldiers shot at a vehicle they perceived as accelerating toward them near Hebron. An initial inquiry concluded that the three Palestinians wounded were uninvoolved civilians.

The father, carrying his son's body wrapped in a Palestinian flag during the funeral on Saturday, rejected the notion of a mistake,demanding accountability. Images from the scene showed mourners praying over the small bundle.

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The tragedy occurred against a backdrop of systemic impunity; Israeli rights group Yesh Din found that out of 2,427 complaints of soldier misconduct between 2016 and 2024, fewer than 1% resulted in indictments.

The same day, separate violence flared across the occupied territories. In the town of Huwara near Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported eight people wounded during settler attacks, including from tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets.

The Israeli military said riots broke out after a reported theft of livestock, with rocks and batons used by both sides, and that soldiers dispersed the crowd. it added it was reviewing footage appearing to show a soldier using violence against a Palestinian.

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In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli airstrike targeted a tent sheltering displaced families near the Rimal school in Gaza City. According to Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya, at least seven people were killed, among them two women, a girl, and her father-all from the same family.

This strike adds to the mounting toll in the coastal enclave, where more than 1,000 Palestinians, including at least 240 children, have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the escalation began last year, according to the United Nations.

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Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continued. Hamas announced that negotiators, led by Khalil al-Hayyah, commenced a new round of talks in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey.. The aim is to overcome a deadlock and advance implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement that took effect in October.

The previous negotiations had stalled a month ago. these incidents underscore the persistent volatility of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with daily occurrences of lethal force, settlement-related violence, and humanitarian crises.