The Israeli troop killing of a U.S. teen in the West Bank sparks outrage
TEL AVIV, Israel — The weekend killing of a Palestinian American teenager by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has sparked an outcry from relatives and community members in the Palestinian territory as well as the United States.
The family of 14-year-old Amir Rabee said he was picking olives with two friends, also U.S. citizens, on Sunday when Israeli forces fired at them.
The Israeli military said it opened fire toward three people who were endangering drivers by hurling rocks at a highway in the village of Turmus Ayya, killing one person and injuring the other two.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the death of a U.S citizen in the West Bank, offering its condolences to the family.
It acknowledged the Israeli military’s statement that the killing was part of a counterterrorism operation and that the military was investigating.
Born and raised in New Jersey
Rabee was born and raised in New Jersey until his family moved to their ancestral Palestinian town in the West Bank, Turmus Ayya. It’s a town near Jerusalem where many Palestinian U.S. citizens reside.
The boy’s father, Mohammed Rabee, said he called the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to ask for medical help when he learned of the shooting, but it didn’t arrive in time, and he had to go to an Israeli military base in the city of Nablus to identify and pick up his son’s body.
When asked for comment on the incident, the U.S. Embassy referred NPR to the statement from the State Department.
“He was all naked, all blood everywhere,” Mohammed Rabee said.
He said he wants answers from the Israeli government.
“They call him [Amir] a terrorist,” he said. “ Even if he did something wrong, he’s under age.” He said, how could the soldiers shoot him down with multiple bullets?
The Israeli military released a black-and-white video showing what it said was Amir Rabee throwing rocks, but the elder Rabee said it was impossible to say if it was his son or not.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D.-N.J., said Amir’s death was an “atrocity” and fellow Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy demanded “answers from the Israeli government.”
“The tragic loss of life underscores that the current course of conflict is continuing to take too great of a toll on too many people,” Murphy said in a statement.
The latest American killed in the West Bank
The State Department said it was aware of the death of five U.S. citizens in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The last was a 26-year-old American Turkish woman who was shot by Israeli forces in September 2024 at a protest she attended in the West Bank.
Last year, four other U.S. citizens were killed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by Israelis. All four families of those slain Americans told NPR they had heard nothing from the Justice Department; they said there was no indication U.S. authorities were investigating the deaths of their loved ones.
The head of Turmus Ayya municipality’s department of foreign relations, Yasir Alkam, said it was time for President Trump’s administration to take action.
“Put some pressure on the Netanyahu administration to at least protect its citizens residing in Palestine,” he told NPR.
A rise in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank
The United Nations has documented an increase in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli settlers and soldiers since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It said 99 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces in 2025, as of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office’s last report in late March.
Israel launched its latest military operation in the West Bank last month, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended. Israel said it is rooting out militants who it said operate out of the refugee camps. Recent Israeli security operations in the West Bank have displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians, according to the U.N.
Nuha Musleh contributed reporting from Ramallah, West Bank. Michele Kelemen contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
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