Palestinians say teen with dual US citizenship killed by IDF in West Bank clash
Local officials say Tawfiq Hijazi, 17, fatally shot in head by Israeli troops near Ramallah during stone throwing incident; Washington expresses ‘serious concern’ over case
A 17-year-old Palestinian-American was fatally shot Friday by Israeli troops during clashes north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian health officials said.
The young man, identified by the Palestinian news agency WAFA as Tawfiq Hafiz Hijazi, was hit in the head with live ammunition during a Friday evening confrontation with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya, which according to Reuters included stone-throwing.
WAFA reported that Hijazi sustained critical injuries before being pronounced dead at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US was “seriously concerned” about the reports of Hijazi’s death.
Kirby noted that the US was still looking into the circumstances.
Video circulating on social media purported to show people rushing Hijazi from the scene after he was shot.
فلسطينيون يحملون شابا أصيب برصاص الاحتلال في بلدة المزرعة الشرقية بالضفة الغربية pic.twitter.com/coRu1oqW3j
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) January 19, 2024
In a separate incident on Friday reported by WAFA, Israeli soldiers allegedly shot and injured an 18-year-old man in the West Bank village of Kafr Ni’ma, west of Ramallah. According to the report, the injury was also caused by live fire.
Since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, the IDF has carried out widespread counterterrorism operations in the West Bank, amid fears that Hamas is trying to stoke unrest in the West Bank while the IDF fights in the Gaza Strip.
The operations have led to the arrest of some 2,600 Palestinians, about half of whom are associated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health, over 300 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since October 7. One operation, in Jenin, also claimed the life of an Israeli policewoman earlier this month.
In addition, in the months following Hamas’s shock assault, Israeli rights group Yesh Din recorded 242 instances of Jewish settler violence, with dozens of Palestinian homes and vehicles reportedly burned.
The killing of Palestinians with American citizenship by Israeli soldiers has plagued the two countries’ relationship in the past. In January 2022, the 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar As’ad died shortly after being violently detained by soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda brigade.
The US said at the time that it expected from the IDF a “thorough criminal investigation.” When the IDF shut down its probe without a criminal indictment, a State Department spokesman said the US would seek more information from the Israeli government.
In May of that year, acclaimed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, also a Palestinian-American dual citizen, was killed after getting caught in the crossfire during an IDF raid on Jenin. The incident caused the US State Department to urge Israel to review its open-fire policy, a request that was balked at by then-prime minister Yair Lapid.
The IDF later apologized for the journalist’s death.
