The United States calls for a swift investigation into the murder of 17-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq in the occupied West Bank.
The United States has urged Israel to launch an investigation into the death of Tawfiq Ajaq, a 17-year-old Palestinian-American who Palestinian authorities say was killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.
At a press briefing in Washington, D.C., on Monday, U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the United States is “devastated by the assassination” and continues to “work closely with the Government of Israel.” to get as much information as possible.
“We have called for an urgent investigation to determine the circumstances of his death,” Patel said. He added that the head of the US Bureau of Palestinian Affairs had visited Ajaq's family to offer his condolences and would continue to assist them along with the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
Ajaq was born in Gretna, Louisiana, near New Orleans, and his parents brought him to the West Bank last year.
Ajaq's relative, Joe Abdel Qaki, said Tawfiq and a friend were having a barbecue in a village field when he was shot.
Speaking at his son's funeral on Saturday, Tawfiq's father, Hafez Ajaq, said Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank were “killing machines”.
Israeli police have said they received a report on Friday of a “gunshot, apparently involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian.”
Police did not identify who fired the shots, although they said the shooting targeted people “allegedly involved in rock-throwing activities along Highway 60,” the main north-south thoroughfare in the occupied West Bank.
“This is not the first time Palestine Children's Defense has been unable to confirm whether a settler or soldier killed a child. One aids and abets the other,” said Miranda Cleland, advocacy officer for Defense for the Children of Palestine, in a post on X.
Tawfiq is an American boy who was chased and shot by an Israeli settler, THEN the Israeli forces stopped and continued shooting. this is not the first time @DCIPalestina has not been able to confirm whether a settler or a soldier killed a child. One helps and abets the other.
—Miranda Cleland (@MirandaCleland) January 20, 2024
At least 369 people have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the occupied West Bank since October, including 95 children.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also noted that 2023 was the deadliest year for children in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 124 Palestinian and six Israeli children killed there since the beginning of the year.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative party, told Al Jazeera that the increasing incursions and attacks in the occupied West Bank are an attempt by Israel to reoccupy the territory “completely.”
“This is a clear message from [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” Barghouti said. “He is saying that there is no longer any place here for any independent Palestinian authority. He is reoccupying the West Bank at the same time he is trying to reoccupy Gaza.”
