Cnn
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Israeli soldiers killed an American Palestinian teenager and injured two others in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials.
Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam said that a 14 -year -old Palestinian Boy was killed by Israeli troops in the village of Turmusaya. Two other American Palestinian boys, aged 14 and 15, were injured during the incident, according to the mayor of Turmusaya, Lafi Shalabi.
The Israeli army said that its soldiers had opened fire during a terrorism control operation in Turmusaya when they saw three “terrorists who launched rocks towards the highway, endangering civilians driving”.
The soldiers killed one and hit the other two, said the army.
The soldiers shared a blurred video allegedly showing the incident, in which three barely visible characters appear. He said he would continue to operate in the West Bank “to protect residents of the region”.
The injured boys were killed in the abdomen, according to Palestine Red Crescent Society.
A seriously injured boy and another with minor injuries were transported to Ramallah hospital, the Palestinian Authority Ministry said.
CNN contacted the US State Department for Comments.
The murder or detention of American citizens in the Palestinian territories occupied by the Israelis and concerns about the lack of responsibility dates back years. In 2003, American activist Rachel Corrie, 23, was crushed by a Bulldozer from the Israeli army while he was trying to block him from grazing Palestinian houses in Gaza. Nine years later, an Israeli civil court tried his death.
In the spring of 2022, the eminent American Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reported in the West Bank. In November, Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed that Israel would not cooperate with an American investigation into his death. A CNN investigation suggested that Akleh has been shot in an attack by Israeli forces, despite the wearing of a “press” vest.
In February of last year, the American citizen of Florida, Mohammed Khdour, 17, was killed by the Israeli forces who pulled him in his head while he was in his car. The teenager removed the car during a study break, nibbling chocolate waffles, posing for Instagram.
Israeli defense forces (FDI) have returned questions about Khdour’s case to the Israeli security agency, known as Shin Bet, who did not respond to CNN’s request for comments.
Three weeks before Khdour’s death, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, a 17-year-old Palestinian-American who grew up in Louisiana, was also shot down by apparent Israeli armed men. The FDIs told CNN that they had received a report that a police officer on leave and an Israeli civilian drew on a Palestinian “suspected of throwing stones” – which his family denied vehemently – and that the Israeli police investigated the shooting.
The Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank have been intensified since the end of January after the launch of an extended military campaign there almost immediately after the start of the Gaza ceasefire. Since then, around 40,000 Palestinians have been moved from their homes.
The Israeli army says that it aims for Palestinian militant groups that have set up attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, but the Palestinians and human rights groups say that the extended aggression is increasingly blind – killing civilians and destroying civil infrastructure in accordance with the collective sanction. At the end of February, Israel deployed tanks in the busy West Bank for the first time in two decades.
