Israeli troops kill 7-month-old baby in West Bank, Palestinian officials say

HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — Israeli troops shot at a car in the occupied West Bank, killing a 7-month-old Palestinian baby and wounding his parents, the Palestinian health ministry said, with the bullet striking the boy in the face.

The Israeli military said that soldiers shot at a vehicle perceived to be accelerating toward them near Hebron. It said an initial inquiry found that the three Palestinians wounded were uninvolved civilians.

Israeli military activity, and settler violence against Palestinians, have surged in the territory since the war in Gaza began in October 2023.

The baby's father, Bethlehem University lecturer Fahd Abu Haikal, told The Associated Press that a bullet struck the windshield before piercing his right hand and striking his son and wife in the back seat Friday evening. Another bullet struck the hood, according to AP journalists who saw the car.

The bullet passed through Sam Fahd Abu Haikal’s face.

“He was the entire world,” Haikal said of the boy, who turned seven months on Friday.

The mother was in critical condition, with shrapnel close to her heart.

The baby's body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag. His father carried him. The men placed the small bundle at their feet and bowed in prayer.

The father demanded justice. “At the end they tell you it was a mistake,” he said. “Nothing is called a mistake.”

The baby’s grandmother, Feryal Abu Heikal, was also in the car. She said that they were driving near a checkpoint and stopped when they saw Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in the distance. She said she initially thought the gunfire was warning shots.

“The scene was horrific to see a 7-month-old baby with a smashed face,” she said. “What kind of army in the world does this?”

Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians are seldom penalized, and were indicted in fewer than 1% of cases based on 2,427 complaints alleging wrongdoing between 2016 and 2024, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that eight people were wounded in settler attacks on the town of Huwara, near Nablus, including from tear gas inhalation and rubber-coated metal bullets.

Israel's military said that riots broke out between Israelis and Palestinians, with rocks and batons, after a reported theft of livestock and soldiers dispersed them. The military said that it was aware of footage showing a soldier using violence against a Palestinian and it was under review. Images appeared to show someone being thrown to the ground and beaten.

Huwara has seen numerous attacks in recent years. In February 2023, scores of Israeli settlers rampaged there, burning dozens of cars and homes, after a Palestinian gunman killed two settlers.

The United Nations said last month that more than 1,000 Palestinians including at least 240 children have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since the war in Gaza began with the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 from Jordan and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

An Israeli strike on Saturday in Gaza City killed at least seven people, including two women, a girl and her father, all from the same family, according to Shifa Hospital. Director Mohamed Abu Selmiya said that a tent near the Rimal school was struck.

Israel's military said that it attacked what it called militants in the area.

Meanwhile, Hamas said that negotiators chaired by Khalil al-Hayyah began a new round of talks in Cairo with mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, in an effort to break a deadlock and move forward in implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal that took effect in October. The previous round of talks was a month ago.

Spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the talks were aimed at fully implementing the ceasefire's first phase and ending Israel’s near-daily attacks in the territory. The fragile ceasefire began in October. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the truce has seen almost daily Israeli fire.

Nickolay Mladenov, the head of the U.S.-created Board of Peace that oversees the ceasefire, acknowledged last month that the truce has stalled over the key issue of disarming Hamas.

Qassem said the talks will discuss “approaches acceptable to all parties" to implement the second phase, including addressing weapons of Palestinian militant groups and the entry of an international stabilization force.

Samy Magdy reported from Cairo, and Sam Mednick from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mourners carry the body of Abdullah Qadoum, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a tent housing Palestinians, during his funeral in Gaza City, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Residents evacuate a wounded man who was injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a tent housing Palestinians, in Gaza City, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners pray over the body of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, who was killed on Friday when, according to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Fahd Abu Haikal, 41 carries the body of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when, according to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Fahd Abu Haikal, 41 carries the body of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when, according to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Mourners pray over the body of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Haikal, who was killed on Friday when, according to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A man inspects the shattered family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A bullet hole is seen at the windshield of the shattered family vehicle of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Child care bag of seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam Fahd Abu Heikal, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents in Tel Rumeida, at the shattered family vehicle in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Fahd Abu Heikal, 41 displays a mobile photo of his seven month old Palestinian baby boy Sam, who was killed on Friday when Israeli soldiers fired at the vehicle carrying him and his parents, in Tel Rumeida, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement outside a New Jersey immigration detention center since late May have become the latest flashpoint for protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

More than 80 people have been arrested following a series of protests at Delaney Hall in Newark, where demonstrators say they are showing up in solidarity with detainees over accusations of poor living conditions.

The Trump administration has defended the treatment of detainees at the 1,000-bed facility.

Here's what to know:

The facility is owned by Geo Group, a private prison contractor that runs multiple detention centers across the country.

Detainees launched a hunger strike last month, according Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group. They issued a number of handwritten letters from inside with their demands, including improved living conditions and better medical care, as they say some are being denied medication.

Detainees across the country have alleged medical neglect for serious and chronic conditions, and they have announced hunger strikes at other facilities.

The Delaney Hall detainees say they are being given moldy and expired food, some of it with maggots, and are housed in overcrowded cells that lack air conditioning. Democratic members of Congress from New York City visited the facility early in the protests and said the detainees' accounts are credible.

President Donald Trump and his deputies have defended the center’s operations and denied there is any hunger strike, abuse or poor conditions inside.

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, praised the food after a recent visit. “The spaghetti was good,” he told CBS News.

GEO Group has dismissed the criticisms as “a politically motivated campaign by outside groups to dismantle ICE and federal immigration detention by targeting the government’s facility contractors.”

The protesters, some wearing gas masks and helmets, have used traffic cones, trash cans and other items as makeshift shields, and they tried to block vehicles from entering or leaving the facility.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche shared images online of bloody wounds and bruises sustained by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Videos on social media show officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and using batons to beat back the demonstrators. Some videos have shown police on horseback marching into the crowds.

On Friday night, ICE officers arrested four on charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, obstruction and threats, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on X. Newark police, meanwhile, said they a Seattle man was charged with criminal mischief for smashing car windows.

“No one has the right to come into our city, destroy personal property, or incite violence,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda posted on social media. “Think twice before coming to Newark with any other agenda than to protest peacefully.”

One law enforcement official was charged with stealing $10,000 worth of camera equipment from an Associated Press photojournalist who had been injured while covering the standoff. The journalist, Angelina Katsanis, was struck in the knee by a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators. She sought medical attention and used a geo-tracking device to trace her missing gear to his home, the state’s attorney general said Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill was initially reluctant to intervene in the growing protests. But as the violence intensified, she declared the situation had “grown unsafe” and “unacceptable” and called in the state police to restore order.

State troopers set up designated protest zones and vehicle checkpoints as ICE officers who had been stationed in front of the detention center agreed to stand down.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, meanwhile, imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and sent in city police to enforce it.

But just a week later, the Democrat said the city would scale back its police presence, saying arrests had dropped and he was reluctant to continue spending tax dollars to guard a privately owned facility.

The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit this week against Geo Group, alleging that the facility denied state health inspectors “full access” to investigate allegations.

Anti-ICE protesters disperse during clashes with law enforcement officers outside the Delaney Hall detention center on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)