RAMALLAH: A Palestinian official told AFP that Zionist forces shot dead a teenager holding US citizenship in the occupied West Bank Sunday, while the Zionist military said it had killed a "terrorist" who threw rocks at cars. Omar Muhammad Saadeh Rabee, a 14-year-old "who was killed in Turmus Ayya, held US citizenship," the town’s mayor, Lafi Shalabi, told AFP.

The Zionist military said that during "counter-terrorism activity" in Turmus Ayya, "soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving". "The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists," a military statement added. The Palestinian health ministry said one person was in critical condition and another suffered minor injuries in the same incident.

Shalabi said one of the wounded also had US citizenship. And Turmus Ayya, northeast of the main West Bank city of Ramallah, is known for having many dual US-Palestinian citizens. The Palestine Red Crescent said its teams had taken the body of the deceased boy to a hospital. It also reported the injuries of two boys shot in the lower abdomen and thigh respectively. One of the two, 14-year-old Abdul Rahman Shehadeh, told AFP he was shot by a soldier while collecting fruit near the town.

The second, who was shot in the abdomen, was identified as 14-year-old Ayoub Asaad by his father Ahed Asaad. He confirmed that the boy had a US passport. Ahed Assad said that an ambulance that took his wounded son to hospital was stopped by soldiers. "We were stopped at a military checkpoint at the village entrance, and a soldier told me that he was the one who shot the three boys," he told AFP.

The Palestinian Authority's foreign affairs ministry denounced the Zionist forces' "use of live fire against three children". "The Zionist entity's continued impunity as an illegal occupying power encourages it to commit further crimes", it added. Since October 7, 2023, Zionist entity troops or settlers have killed at least 918 Palestinians, including militants, in the West Bank, according to Palestinian health ministry figures. At least 33 Zionists, including soldiers, have died over the same period in clashes with Palestinians, according to official figures. The Zionist entity has occupied the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, since 1967. — AFP