‘Palestinian lives are disposable – even a baby’: new footage shows shooting of seven-month-old

New footage 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.

On Friday, the killing of the infant by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank sparked outrage after soldiers opened fire on the family’s vehicle despite it having complied with an order to stop. Sam was killed and his mother, Daniyah Abu Haikal, and father, Fahed Abu Haikal, were both injured.

The Israel Defense Forces said its troops “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them” and one of the soldiers “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 the Abu Haikal family was travelling in was accelerating towards them when they shot it.

“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.”

Moments later, in another video obtained by B’Tselem, seven-month-old Sam’s father is seen just after his son was shot. Fahed Abu Haikal is holding baby Sam in his arms, trying to stop the bleeding from his head with his hands, while Sam’s mother, Daniyah Abu Haikal, who was also injured by the gunfire while holding her son, is seen sitting on the ground, next to the car.

The father said a bullet passed through his hand and struck his son, Sam, who was being held by his mother in the back seat. The family, which also included the couple’s 11-year-old son and Abu Haikal’s mother, had been driving through Hebron when they were stopped by the soldiers, he said.

Although the video has no sound, and it is unclear when exactly the soldier opened fire at the vehicle, the clip appears to corroborate Fahed Abu Haikal’s account. Abu Haikal told Hareetz: “The soldier signalled me to stop. I brought the car to a complete halt and raised my hands on the steering wheel. Immediately afterwards, they opened fire on the vehicle.

“I stopped as I was instructed to, and then they simply shot at the car,” he added. “There was no clear checkpoint, just soldiers standing in the street. I stopped when I was asked to, and then the shooting started.

“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. He didn’t deserve this,” Haikal added.