Footage has emerged that appears to contradict the Israeli military\u2019s account of the shooting that killed seven-month-old Sam Abu Haikal in his mother\u2019s arms, showing the family\u2019s car slowing near a military post before soldiers opened fire.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the killing of the infant by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank<\/a> caused outrage, after soldiers opened fire on the family\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The Israel Defense Forces said its troops<\/a> had \u201cperceived a vehicle accelerating toward them\u201d and that one of the soldiers had \u201cresponded with single shots toward the vehicle\u201d.<\/p>\n However, footage obtained<\/a> by the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights, B\u2019Tselem, contradicts IDF claims that the car in which the Abu Haikal family was travelling was accelerating towards them when they shot.<\/p>\n \u201cThe footage clearly shows that the Israeli soldier fired at the car as it was slowing to a stop,\u201d B\u2019Tselem said in a statement. \u201cThe car was far from the soldiers and posed no danger to them whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n In another video obtained by B\u2019Tselem, seven-month-old Sam\u2019s father is seen just after his son was shot. Fahd Abu Haikal is holding the baby in his arms, trying to stop the bleeding from his head with his hands, while Daniyah, who was also injured by the gunfire while holding her son, is seen sitting on the ground next to the car.<\/p>\n Fahd Abu Haikal with a photo of his son, Sam. Photograph: Mahmoud Illean\/AP<\/p>\n Fahd said a bullet had passed through his hand and struck his son, who was being held by his mother in the back seat. The family, which also included the couple\u2019s 11-year-old son and Fahd\u2019s mother, had been driving through Hebron when they were stopped by the soldiers, he said.<\/p>\n Although the video has no sound, and it is unclear when exactly the soldier opened fire at the vehicle, the clip appears to corroborate Fahd\u2019s account.He told Hareetz: \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI stopped as I was instructed to, and then they simply shot at the car,\u201d he added. \u201cThere was no clear checkpoint, just soldiers standing in the street. I stopped when I was asked to, and then the shooting started.<\/p>\n \u201cThe car was completely stationary when he shot at us, it wasn\u2019t moving at all. A seven-month-old infant killed in cold blood. He didn\u2019t deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n The footage released by B\u2019Tselem also showed Israeli soldiers failing to assist the family, instead standing by as civilians rushed to help the wounded child and his parents.<\/p>\n