RAMALLAH (Reuters) – A three year-old Palestinian boy who was wounded by Israeli gunfire last week has died of his wounds, Palestinian and Israeli health officials said on Monday.
Haitham al-Tamimi, the father of toddler Mohammad al-Tamimi, said the two were driving to visit relatives on June 1 when their car came under fire from nearby soldiers. The boy was critically wounded and he himself was hit in the shoulder.
Sheba Hospital in Israel confirmed the boy’s death “despite the great effort of the medical team.”
On Thursday, the army said soldiers returned fire after two suspected Palestinian assailants opened fire against the settlement of Halamish, also known as Neveh Tzuf, near Ramallah in the West Bank.
It said two Palestinians had been wounded by fire from the soldiers and said the incident was under review, adding that the military made every effort to avoid non-combatant casualties.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it did not trust Israeli internal investigations into such incidents and demanded “an immediate international investigation into this crime and other crimes against Palestinian children.”
The West Bank, among territories where Palestinians seek statehood, has seen a surge of violence since March 2022. Israel has intensified its military raids amid a spate of street attacks carried out by Palestinians in its cities.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said 158 Palestinians, including both militant fighters and civilians, had been killed by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank in 2023. Another Palestinian was killed in southern Israel by a rocket fired from Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said 20 Israelis, one of whom was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, a Ukrainian, and an Italian have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the same period.
Israel has continued to expand settlements since statehood negotiations froze, and settler violence has been on the rise.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
