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Video has emerged that appears to counter the Israeli military’s account of an incident in which a soldier opened fire on a car carrying a family and killed their 7-month-old baby Sam Abu Haikal.
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that troops had “perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them” as they carried out “operational activity” in the area around the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. One soldier responded with several shots toward the vehicle, the IDF said, adding that three Palestinians were injured and evacuated for medical treatment.
But the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights, known as B’Tselem, has said that footage it obtained shows that the car appeared to slow to a stop, rather than accelerate toward soldiers.
In the video, which has been viewed by NBC News, the car can be seen clearly coming to a stop. The footage is silent, however, making it difficult to establish when exactly shots were fired.
“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.”
B’Tselem spokesperson Shai Parnes said in an interview that the organization received the footage showing the incident without audio. Attempts to get a video with sound were unsuccessful, he said.
The video “speaks for itself,” with the car seen as “far away” from soldiers when one opened fire and clearly coming to a stop, he added.
In another video published by B’Tselem capturing the moments after the incident, Sam’s father can be seen standing by the car, cradling his baby, whose bright yellow clothing can be seen stained with blood. He appears to try to stem the bleeding from his small head.
The IDF said in an updated statement today that it viewed the matter “with great gravity, regrets harm caused to uninvolved individuals.” The incident was under investigation by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division “and is being examined with the utmost seriousness,” it added.