Anger at Israeli army probe into fatal shooting of Palestinian toddler

The parents of a Palestinian toddler killed by an Israeli soldier say the military's investigation into his death "makes a mockery of our son's blood".

Mohammed Tamimi, two, was shot in the head and his father Haitham was injured in the occupied West Bank on 1 June.

The military's report blames a mix-up for a soldier firing at their car.

It says he thought he was shooting at gunmen and that the confusion was caused by another soldier firing in the air in violation of regulations.

Haitham Tamimi told the BBC: "We, as the parents of Mohammed, consider that the army's statement makes a mockery of our son's blood, belittles the scale of the soldiers' crime and confirms that there is no force that deters them from killing us."

He said that he hoped to take his son's case to international courts in the future and that he was working with the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din and other organisations.

"I know that no-one will punish the soldier who killed my son, but I want to expose them so that the suffering that happened to us won't happen to another family," Mr Tamimi said.

The Israeli military published the results of its investigation into the incident in the village of Nabi Saleh on Wednesday.

The report repeated the military's previous assertion that two Palestinian gunmen had fired at a Jewish settlement and an Israeli military post close to Nabi Saleh.

An army officer arrived at the scene and began searching the area, it said. He then saw a "suspicious vehicle and fired several times into the air in violation of orders".

This prompted a soldier stationed at the guard post who heard the shots to open fire on the Tamimis' car outside their home, according to the report. He believed the gunmen were using it to flee and had received permission from his commander.

A military helicopter was used to transport Mohammed Tamimi to an Israeli hospital, but he died of his injuries four days later.

His father was treated for a gunshot injury to the shoulder in Ramallah but was discharged just in time to visit his son before his death.

Mohammed Tamimi was the youngest child killed as a result of the Israel-Palestinian conflict this year.

The Israeli military investigation found fault with commanders for miscommunication and "incorrect decision-making", and said that the officer who fired in the air would be reprimanded for violating orders.

"We do everything that we can so as not to harm uninvolved civilians. I express my sorrow for the harm that was caused to civilians and the death of the toddler," the Commanding Officer of Israeli Central Command, Major General Yehuda Fox, stated.

The Palestinian foreign ministry, in a statement, deplored the findings as "the clearest and ugliest form of disregard for, and legalisation of, the shedding of Palestinian blood".

It has called for an international investigation into Israeli military actions against Palestinian children.

"Without accountability, Israel's crimes against our people/children will continue unabated," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh wrote in a tweet last week. He visited the mourning tent of Mohammed Tamimi in Nabi Saleh.

The US Office for Palestinian Affairs urged Israel "to evaluate all use of deadly force that involves civilian casualties".

Similar statements calling on Israel to hold accountable those responsible for Mohammed Tamimi's death were made by the European Union delegation to the Palestinians and the United Nations envoy for the Middle East peace process.

The killing of the toddler came amid a surge in violence, particularly in the West Bank, in recent months.

A Yesh Din report based on military data from 2017 to 2021 found that Israeli soldiers were prosecuted over less than 1% of the hundreds of complaints filed against them on alleged offences against Palestinians.

Additional reporting by BBC Arabic's Alaa Daraghme