Nearly two dozen Americans have now been killed “as a result of ongoing violence” linked to the Israel-Hamas war, the US State Department said today.
“We can confirm the deaths of 23 Americans,” State Department representative Vedant Patel said at a regular press briefing.
Of the US citizens killed since Oct. 7, 21 of them had served in the Israel Defense Forces, and one with the Israel National Police, Patel said.
The recent death of 17-year-old Palestinian-American, Tawfiq Ajjaq, is the latest addition to the growing death toll, the representative added.
“We are deeply saddened by the killing of 17-year-old US citizen Tawfic Abdel Jabbar in the West Bank,” Patel said, noting that the United States was working with Israel to obtain information about his death.
“We have called for an immediate investigation to determine the circumstances of the death and accountability … as appropriate.”
The teenager, who was born and raised in Gretna, La., but moved to the Palestinian territories last year with his parents and four siblings, was shot dead by Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to Palestinian health officials.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Monday that the number of American deaths from the Israel-Hamas war had risen to 23 since October 7. US State Department
Ajjaq’s brother, Joe Abdel Qaki, said the American-born young man was shot in the head and chest while barbecuing with his friend in the village field.
Israeli police later said they had received reports of a “firearm discharge, allegedly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and a civilian,” although the exact circumstances of the shooting remain unclear.
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Police did not reveal who fired the fatal shots but said the shots were aimed at people “allegedly involved in stone-throwing activities” along a main road in the West Bank.
The Hamas-run Palestinian Health Ministry said 369 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since October 7, when a surprise cross-border attack by Palestinian terror groups sparked a deadly war.
Mourners weep next to the body of Palestinian-American Tawfiq Ajjaq, 17, who Palestinian officials said was killed by Israeli security forces on Friday. Reuters
Most of the Palestinians who were killed were killed in a shootout in the West Bank that Israeli forces said began during an operation to arrest Palestinian gunmen.
Although the US has provided military and diplomatic support to Israel in its war against Hamas, it has repeatedly urged the Jewish state to reduce the intensity of its attacks.
Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli attacks, Gaza health officials said.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
