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Photos:
Tamimi family. Published by IMEMC News
YNET news clip. Published by IMEMC News.
Haaretz News clip. Published by IMEMC News.

See video at IMEMC News Source Link
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by IMEMC News
June 3, 2023

Media sources reported on Thursday night that a Palestinian child was critically injured and his father suffered serious wounds after Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at them near an Israeli military roadblock at the entrance of Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Update: On her Facebook Page, Manal Tamimi said that her husband, Bilal Tamimi, was shot with a gas bomb in the arm, causing a fracture in the writs, and added that he requires surgery for his wounds.

Manal added that Wisam Tamimi, her brother-in-law’s son, was shot with a sponge-tipped bullet in the head, resulting in a skull fracture.

Her brother’s wife, Noura Tamimi, was shot with a gas bomb in the abdomen, and her cousin Haitham Tamimi and his son Mohammad, were shot with live rounds in the chest and the head.

Israeli soldiers ambushed a Palestinian car at the town entrance and fired many live rounds at a car, critically wounding an infant, two years of age, after shooting him in the head and seriously injuring his father in the shoulder.

The infant and his father were not in the car but in their home’s front yard near the military roadblock at the entrance of the town.

Naji Tamimi, the head of Nabi Saleh Village Council, said the soldiers also closed the iron gate at the village entrance, invading several neighborhoods and firing live rounds at protesters.

Israeli Ynet News claimed the toddler and his father were shot by Palestinian fighters who “fired at an Israel military position near the settlement of Neve Zuf and allegedly injured two Palestinians.” It added that the army is allegedly investigating the incident.

However, the Israeli daily Haaretz said the child and his father were wounded by Israeli army fire, adding that the infant suffered critical wounds and his father sustained serious injuries.

Haaretz quoted a statement by the Israeli army stating that Palestinian fighters opened fire at the Neve Tzuf colony, north of Ramallah, and that the soldiers stationed at a nearby post returned fire and injured the two Palestinians.

It also said that the child and his father were rushed to the colony for emergency medical attention and that child was lifted to an Israeli hospital in a military helicopter.

The father, who was later moved to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah, told local media that he and his son were at the entrance of their home and had no idea the Israeli army was invading the area; and stated that he, his child, and his cousin were about to go out when the car was hit.

The shooting led to protests at the entrance of Nabi Saleh before the soldiers shot two young Palestinian men with rubber-coated steel bullets.

One of the wounded, Bilal Tamimi, a local nonviolent activist, was shot while documenting the invasion using his mobile phone.

In related news, the army shot a young man near the military roadblock at the entrance of Shu’fat refugee camp, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, and later moved him to a hospital.

First Published On: Jun 2, 2023, at 05:29
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Palestinian Toddler Critically Wounded by Israeli Army Fire in West Bank, Father Seriously Wounded

Israeli military says the child and his father were hit unintentionally after soldiers returned fire at armed militants

by Hagar Shezaf and Jack Khoury for Haaretz
June 2, 2023

A Palestinian man and his 2-year-old son were wounded by Israeli military gunfire in the West Bank on Thursday night. The child is in critical condition, while his father sustained serious injuries.

According to the Israeli military, Haytam Tamimi and his son Muhammad were injured near the Israeli settlement of Neveh Tzuf, just north of Ramallah, when armed militants opened fire at the settlement and Israeli soldiers returned fire.

The father and son were brought to the entrance to the settlement for emergency medical treatment. The toddler, who was shot in the head, was evacuated in a military helicopter to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan.

A statement from the IDF said that “we regret the injury to noncombatants, and we work to prevent such incidents. The incident will be investigated.”

The IDF statement added that, “according to our initial investigation, two terrorists opened fire for several minutes at the [settlement], an IDF force identified the source of the shooting and returned fire. It seems that, as a result of this, our forces hit two Palestinians.”

According to a still-incomplete military investigation of the incident, it occurred at about 8 P.M. on Thursday in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. A soldier at a post beneath a pillbox was the one who shot at the father and son. According to that soldier, he opened fire after mistakenly identifying the car as the one from which gunshots were fired at him. The military said that another Palestinian had shot toward the pillbox for about 10 minutes, but they did not identify the source of the fire.

On Friday, Judea and Samaria Regional Commander Avi Blut arrived at the scene of the shooting as part of the investigation.

Speaking to Arabic media, the father said that he had been at the entrance to his home with his son. “We didn’t know that the army was operating. We were about to go out – me, my son and my cousin – in my car. A bullet hit the car and us.” He added that they did not see what happened or who had fired at them.

Mohammed's mother, Marwa, 31, spoke to Haaretz while outside her son's hospital room, where he is fighting for his life. "Me, my husband and my son wanted to go visit family members. I was still inside the house, and my husband and son entered the car. Just as he turned the engine on he was shot," she says.

Haytam was shot in the shoulder and hit in the chest by shrapnel. He underwent surgery in a Ramallah hospital and is currently in a medically induced coma.

"This was like an execution." she added. "I want to file a complaint and for him and my son to be compensated. My husband is a man of peace, always at work or with the children."

The Tamimi home is located about 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) from teh military pillbox at the entrance of the village, but Tamimi believes that the soldiers were closer to them. She said that soldiers will often hide by the house's gate, about 50 meters (164 feet) from the home itself. Over the years, she said, the house's windows have been broken by live fire and stun grenades have been thrown into their yard. The military denied the claim that the shots were fired from the family's gate.

Hassan, Muhammed's uncle, told Haaretz that his brother "was in the car with his son as they wanted to visit a neighbor. There was a roadblock at the entrance to the village and as soon as their car started moving right next to their house, they were shot at. They tried to drive away but [the soldiers] kept shooting at them."

According to Hassan, after the shooting the father was able to drive toward the village until he was met with people who transported him to a location where he received medical treatment. The uncle further said that he spotted 4 bullet marks on the vehicle and that the family's house is at a very short distance from an IDF checkpoint.

A short while after the incident, the IDF raided the Palestinian village of Nabi Salih in the Central West Bank. Speaking to Haaretz, photographer Bilal Tamimi said that as he was taking pictures of the raid while on the roof of his family's house, the soldiers shot a rubber bullet directly at him. He was wounded in his hand and now awaits surgery.

Tamimi further said that about a half an hour before he was shot, his brother was also hit in the head with a rubber bullet by the soldiers and was evacuated for medical treatment.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded by shrapnel after shots were fired at the Dayr Sharaf checkpoint in the northern West Bank.

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