Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, formerly of Saddle Brook, was shot along with two other teenagers in Turmus Ayya, a town in the occupied West Bank

Palestinian-American Teen Shot Dead
by Israeli Soldiers in West Bank
Abeer Salman, Dana Karni, Hira Humayun and Irene Nasser / CNN

(April 6,2025) — Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian American teenager and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials.

Ramallah Gov. Laila Ghannam said a 14-year-old Palestinian American boy was shot dead by Israeli troops in the village of Turmusaya. Two other Palestinian American boys, ages 14 and 15, were injured in the incident, according to Turmusaya Mayor Lafi Shalabi.

The Israeli military said its soldiers opened fire during a counterterrorism operation in Turmusaya when they saw three “terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving.”

The soldiers killed one and hit the other two, the military said.

The military shared a blurry video purportedly showing the incident, in which three barely visible figures appear. It said it would continue operating in the West Bank “to protect the residents in the area.”

The injured boys were shot in the abdomen, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

One severely injured boy and another with minor wounds were taken to a hospital in Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said.

CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment.

The killing or detention of American citizens in occupied Palestinian territories by Israelis and concerns about a lack of accountability date back years. In 2003, American activist Rachel Corrie, 23, was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to block it from razing Palestinian homes in Gaza. Nine years later, an Israeli civil court ruled her death an accident.

Rachel Corrie

In spring 2022, prominent Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting in the West Bank. That November, Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed that Israel would not cooperate with a US probe into her death. A CNN investigation suggested that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces, despite wearing a vest marked “Press.”

In February last year, Florida-born US citizen Mohammed Khdour, 17, was killed by Israeli forces who shot him in the head while he was in his car. The teenager was taking the car out during a study break, snacking on chocolate waffles, posing for Instagram.