The United States demanded Israel launch an “urgent investigation” into the death of a 17-year-old Palestinian-American killed by alleged Israeli fire in the West Bank last week, AFP reports.
Tawfiq Ajaq was shot dead in the town of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah, the Palestinian news agency Wafa and relatives of the young man said.
“We continue to engage closely with the government of Israel to ascertain as much information as possible and we have called for an urgent investigation to determine the circumstance of his death,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
Patel said he was “devastated” by the death of the teenager, a US citizen, and reiterated a call for de-escalation.
The United States has “been clear over the tragic escalation in violence in the West Bank,” he said, adding that it was calling “on all parties to avoid escalations.”
Both the US Office of Palestinian Affairs and the US Embassy in Jerusalem have been in contact with the teenager’s family, Patel said.
When asked by AFP, the Israeli army said that an off-duty police officer and a civilian had fired in the direction of a Palestinian suspected of throwing stones.
The army added that a soldier was additionally in the area and that claims that he had fired on the teenager were under investigation.
