American-Palestinian teen killed as Israeli forces shoot children in West Bank
Turmus Ayya, West Bank - A Palestinian official told AFP that Israeli forces shot dead a teenager holding US citizenship in the illegally occupied West Bank Sunday.
Omar Muhammad Saadeh Rabee, a 14-year-old "who was killed in Turmus Ayya, held US citizenship," the town’s mayor, Lafi Shalabi, told AFP.
The Israeli military – which illegally occupies the West Bank – said that during "counter-terrorism activity" in Turmus Ayya, "soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving".
"The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists," a military statement added.
The Palestinian health ministry stated that one person was in critical condition and another suffered minor injuries in the same incident.
Shalabi said one of the wounded also had US citizenship. And Turmus Ayya, northest of the main West Bank city of Ramallah, is known for having many dual US-Palestinian citizens.
The Palestine Red Crescent said its teams had taken the body of the killed boy to a hospital. It also reported the injuries of two boys shot in the lower abdomen and thigh respectively, during "clashes" in Turmus Ayya.
One of the two, 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Shehadeh, told AFP he was shot by a soldier while collecting fruit near the town.
The second, who was shot in the abdomen, was identified as 14-year-old Ayoub Asaad by his father Ahed Asaad. He confirmed that the boy had a US passport.
Israeli forces blocked ambulance carrying wounded children
Ahed Assad said that an ambulance that took his wounded son to hospital was stopped by soldiers.
"We were stopped at a military checkpoint at the village entrance, and a soldier told me that he was the one who shot the three boys," he told AFP.
The Palestinian Authority's foreign affairs ministry denounced the Israeli forces' "use of live fire against three children."
"Israel's continued impunity as an illegal occupying power encourages it to commit further crimes," it added.
Israel's violence in the West Bank has soared since it began its mass killing campaign in Gaza. Soldiers and settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians in the West Bank, adding to the many tens of thousands massacred in an assault that many human rights organizations, independent legal experts, and scholars have deemed to be genocidal.
Backed to the hilt by the US, Israeli officials have openly stated their intention to annex and ethnically cleanse Palestinian territories of their inhabitants.
Cover photo: REUTERS