Palestinian toddler succumbs to critical wounds

Two-and-a-half-year-old Mohammad Haytham Tamimi was shot in the head in the village of Nabi Salah, near Ramallah, by Zionist troops on Thursday, when he and his father, Haytam Tamimi, were in their parked car outside their home, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Mohammad suffered critical injuries in the head while his father received chest injuries. They were taken to a hospital, where the Palestinian toddler remained on life support until he was pronounced dead on Monday morning.

In a statement following the shooting, the Israeli military claimed that its soldiers mistook the Palestinian toddler and his father for Palestinian fighters.

Israeli troops were returning fire at a group of Palestinian fighters who purportedly targeted a settlement nearby with live fire minutes earlier, the Israeli military further claimed.

A family relative and a local activist, Basem Tamimi, said the father and his little son where in their car and were about to go somewhere when Israeli-fired bullets rained down on them.

"Israeli forces were located near the house and fire lives bullets at the car," Basem said.

The wounded father also said he had just buckled up his son in the car and they were driving to visit an uncle when the shooting began.

Nabi Salah village has long been in the spotlight for its anti-Israeli rallies in the West Bank. As a result, it has been under heightened pressure by Israeli forces that regularly carry out raids in the area.

Israeli forces launch raids on various cities of the occupied West Bank on an almost daily basis under the pretext of detaining what is called “wanted” Palestinians. The raids usually lead to violent confrontations with residents.

The United Nations marked 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in 16 years. Israeli forces killed at least 171 Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East al-Quds last year, including more than 30 children. At least 9,000 others were injured as well.

According to a report by Middle East Eye, a UK-based news website, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 119 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds since January and a further 34 in the besieged Gaza Strip.

A total of 28 children have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers since the beginning of the year, including seven in the Gaza Strip, Wafa added in its report.