Family members of a Palestinian American teenager who was fatally shot in the occupied West Bank demanded on Saturday that authorities find the killer of the 17-year-old, who was hit by a barrage of gunfire, his cousin said, as the two were setting out to have a picnic near their village.
The death of the teenager, who the family identified as Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, came as tensions have been rising between Israel and the United States. The State Department confirmed that an American was killed in the West Bank on Friday without releasing identification and called on Israel to provide more information about the death.
Without naming the teenager or confirming his death, Israeli police said in a statement on Saturday that they were investigating the shooting. The police said that an Israeli civilian and an off-duty policeman had fired at тАЬindividuals purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities.тАЭ
The Israeli army was investigating whether a soldier was also involved in the shooting, according to a military spokesman. The military and police did not respond to requests for comment beyond their initial statements.
A distant cousin, Mohammad Ejak, 16, said Tawfic was shot while driving to a grove of olive trees owned by the family, about a 15-minute drive from their village of Al-MazraтАЩa ash Sharqiyeh, near Ramallah.
тАЬWe did not throw any rocks at anyoneтАЩs car, and we didnтАЩt even get out of our own car before the shots were fired at us,тАЭ said a visibly shaken Mohammad, who attended the funeral. He said he did not know where the gunshots came from and ducked below the dashboard when he heard the gunfire.
Tawfic was born to Palestinian parents and raised in a suburb of New Orleans, where he attended the Muslim Academy Gretna Islamic School. The family, who have four other children, decided to return to live in the occupied West Bank when Tawfic was 16, about a year and a half ago, family members said.
тАЬWhere is my sonтАЩs killer?тАЭ asked Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, TawficтАЩs father, during the funeral. тАЬHe is an American citizen who was shot in cold blood, and as an American, he should be protected.тАЭ
Nabil Abukhader, the principal of the Muslim Academy in Gretna, La., and the head of the local mosque that the family attended, said the teenager had hoped to improve his Arabic while in the West Bank.
He described him as a quiet, polite and тАЬvery respectfulтАЭ teenager who helped his father with his shoe and clothing stores and often took his siblings to school. The young man was planning to study business administration at the University of New Orleans, to help grow his fatherтАЩs businesses, said Mr. Abukhader, who spoke with The New York Times from New Orleans.
The West Bank has been increasingly on edge, as violence and Israeli military raids have spiraled since the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel. More than 340 Palestinians in the territory have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and civilians since Oct. 7, according to the United Nations. A two-day raid by the Israeli military killed at least eight people this week.
John Kirby, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said in a state department briefing on Friday that the United States had extended its condolences to relatives of the American who was killed, without directly naming them, and was тАЬworking to understand the circumstances of the incident.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩre seriously concerned about these reports,тАЭ Mr. Kirby said. тАЬThe information is scant at this time. We donтАЩt have perfect context about exactly what happened here.тАЭ
But, he added, тАЬWeтАЩre going to be in constant touch with counterparts in the region to get more information.тАЭ
Anushka Patil and Gaya Gupta contributed reporting.
