Israel’s forces have killed a Palestinian teenager and wounded seven protesters with live ammunition in clashes in the West Bank.
The teenager was killed on Friday evening in the village of Silwad. Israeli authorities said he was throwing Molotov cocktails at troops protecting a major road widely used by Jewish settlers in the occupied territory.
The US confirmed that the youth, Orwa Hammad, was an American citizen. Palestinian sources said his father lives in the US.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called for “a speedy and transparent investigation” and said Washington “expresses its deepest condolences to the family of a US citizen minor who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces.”
“We continue to urge all parties to help restore calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of the tragic recent incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” said Psaki.
The seven injured demonstrators were wounded as the Israel Defense Forces dispersed a protest near the Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah. The Israeli troops also used tear gas canisters and concussion grenades during the operation.
Protests continued through the night in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat neighborhood as well as in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter.
Demonstrations and clashes have escalated in recent weeks in East Jerusalem, amid the rehousing of Israeli Jews in the mainly-Arab neighborhoods.
