3-year-old Palestinian boy shot by Israeli troops dies, family says

A 3 year old Palestinian boy, who was shot by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank, died yesterday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Despite efforts to save him, Haitham al-Tamimi died, including helicopter transport to a hospital in Israel.

He was shot near Israeli settlement Neveh Tzuf, north of Jerusalem in the West Bank of Jerusalem on Thursday night.

Haitham Tamimi's father, Haitham Tamimi, said he was going to visit his brother when his brother and Muhammad were shot.

As soon as I started the car, I heard gunshots and I saw the Israeli soldiers out of the military tower, Tamimi said.

He looked at me and I couldn't believe what I saw. The man was shot in the head and there was blood all over his body. I took him in my arms then realized that I'm also shot in my right shoulder. The people of the village came quickly, and they took us both with their cars. This is when ambulances and a helicopter came and took Muhammad to the Israeli hospital. The Israeli Defense Forces IDF said its troops were firing back at gunmen who shot at Neveh Tzuf, a three-year-old and a man.

Both IDF and Magen David Adom MDA emergency medical teams treated both of the victims, and succeeded in getting the child's heart beating again, the MDA said at the time.

The child was then transported by IDF helicopter to a hospital in Sheba-Tel Hashomer, Israel, where he was in stable condition.

The IDF regrets harm to non-combatants, and is dedicated to doing everything in its power to prevent such incidents. The incident is under review, the IDF said Friday. The military did not immediately have a new statement in light of the death of the child, pointing to the statement published by CNN on Friday.

Palestinian Foreign Ministry officials on Monday condemned the killing of Tamimi as an heinous crime against humanity, calling for an urgent international investigation into this crime and other crimes of killing Palestinian children. The child's father, who was treated for his gunshot wound at a hospital in Ramallah, was released on Sunday.

The bullet wound was not hurting, he said, and I feel no physical pain. My heart hurts so much that I don't know what to do.