Just nowSebastian UsherHebronAFP via Getty ImagesThe baby's parents were also injured in the shooting on FridayThe funeral has taken place of a seven-month-old Palestinian baby shot dead by an Israeli soldier while in a car with his family in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
7 minutes agoSean SeddonLebanese ArmyThe Lebanese Army released images of the car it says was attacked by the Israeli military The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has launched an investigation after confirming it attacked a vehicle carrying Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon.The Lebanese Army said Saturday's "aggressive and barbaric" strike had killed a brigadier-general, a captain and a private. The IDF said the vehicle was "moving suspiciously towards forces" and gunfire had been reported in the area.Israel is not in direct conflict with the Lebanese government, which is involved in talks with Israel to secure a ceasefire. But it has been fighting Hezbollah since March, primarily in southern Lebanon, from where the Iran-backed armed group has launched rocket and drone attacks into northern Israel. On Saturday, the IDF said it struck around 150 Hezbollah "infrastructure sites" in southern Lebanon over the weekend, including what it said were weapon storage sites and command centres.The strike against the Lebanese army vehicle happened on a road close to the village of Kfar Tebnit, around four miles north of the Litani River and close to the city of Nabatieh, where there has been intense fighting and displacement in recent months.The IDF said the vehicle it struck was travelling in an "active and evacuated combat zone" where it believes Hezbollah has operated from.A statement said troop movements in the area require coordination with the IDF, and repeated that its forces "are operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, not against the Lebanese Army". The Lebanese Army has reacted furiously to the attack, accusing Israel of "brutal, deliberate and repeated aggression". It shared images of the burnt-out wreckage of a car on a road outside the village. The victims have been identified as Brig Gen Samer Sabra, Cpt Elie Khoury, and Pte Hassan Ghazal.ReutersIsrael has continued to strike Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire talksThat agreement stipulated Israel would not attack Hezbollah positions in the capital Beirut if the group did not attack Israel, as well as making provisions for "pilot" security zones inside southern Lebanon from which the group would be banned from operating.Lebanon's government wants to end the fighting on its territory, which has previously involved major air strikes on its capital city.It has said a ceasefire is necessary for its forces to disarm Hezbollah themselves, but Israel has previously accused the government in Beirut of lacking the ability to do so.US President Donald Trump has sought to defuse the conflict in Lebanon in order to reach an agreement with Iran, which has made any deal to end its war with the US and Israel contingent on the campaign against Hezbollah being halted.Lebanon was drawn into the war between the US, Israel and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south.An initial ceasefire was agreed on 16 April but it failed to stop the fighting.Israeli strikes had largely been confined to southern Lebanon in recent weeks, though the IDF has attacked in the east of the country since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an intensification of the campaign on 26 May.At least 3,550 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the war, according to the country's health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.Israel says 26 of its soldiers and four Israeli civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the war.In an interview with CNN, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the Lebanese people were "fed up" with the war between Israel and Hezbollah. He blamed Iran for the situation in his country - a remark that prompted Iran's foreign minister to say, "save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President" - an apparen
Just nowSebastian UsherHebronAFP via Getty ImagesThe baby's parents were also injured in the shooting on FridayThe funeral has taken place of a seven-month-old Palestinian baby shot dead by an
Israeli soldier while in a car with his family in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.According to the Israeli military, a shot was fired when soldiers "perceived a threat" from the vehicle in the Tel Rumeida area on Friday evening.The family say they obeyed soldiers' orders to stop and posed no danger.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has acknowledged the family were "uninvolved civilians" and has expressed "deep sorrow" over the incident. The boy's father has dismissed the IDF's expression of regret. The body of Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was laid to rest in Hebron, the day after he suffered a fatal wound from the bullet of an Israeli soldier. His father, Fahd, was joined by a group of mourners as he carried his small shrouded body wrapped in a Palestinian flag to the graveyard.On Friday, Fahd was driving Sam and other members of his family home from a day out in Bethlehem. They had almost reached the Israeli checkpoint just before their home. Local residents showed me exactly where their car was hit halfway up the hill to the checkpoint.Fahd and Sam's grandmother, Firyal, who was also in the car, have given their accounts of what happened next.Firyal said that the family stopped the car when they saw Israeli soldiers approaching from a side road to their left. Fahd says he raised his hands after bringing the vehicle to a halt.Both say that gunshots followed."The bullets struck the car," Fahd said."The soldier that shot at us was 10m away. The bullet penetrated the front windshield, went through my arm, and then struck my son in the head and my wife in the face."Sam died of his wound in hospital, his mother is still being treated.Anadolu via Getty ImagesBullets from the Israeli soldiers tore into the car and hit baby Sam, his mother and fatherAt the spot where the shooting happened, local residents pointed out to me traces of what they said was blood on the road. One local - who did not want to be named - said he heard just two shots fired, adding that there were around four soldiers at the scene.In its statement on the shooting, the Israeli military said that a single shot was fired after the soldiers "perceived a vehicle accelerating towards them". But the IDF has acknowledged that the family were what it called "uninvolved civilians" and that the incident is under review. Dismissing the Israeli expression of regret, Fahd said: "When more than one bullet is fired, when there's no warning shot and no warning at all, it can't be a mistake!"Firyal said that the family stopped the car when they saw Israeli soldiers on the approach to this checkpointTel Rumeida has long been a flashpoint. It is an area of Hebron where Israeli settlers live among Palestinian residents. There is a heavy Israeli military presence intended to provide protection for the settlers.Local Palestinian residents pointed out that the home of Sam's family is just on the other side of an Israeli checkpoint.
A group of young Palestinian children kicking a ball about near the checkpoint belied the tension and potential for violence in the area.Across the occupied West Bank, there has been a severe escalation in deadly confrontations between Palestinians, Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers since the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023.More than 1,000 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed in the West Bank since then, according to figures from the Palestinian health ministry.At least 44 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, have been killed during the same period in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attacks in southern Israel in 2023 - and 251 abducted into Gaza.Israel launched a massive retaliatory operation in the Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the death of mo
Funeral held for baby shot dead by Israeli troops in Occupied West Bank BBC
Infant Killed as Israeli Military Fires on Car in West Bank, Palestinian Officials Say The New York Times
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