Who was Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee? IDF shoots dead American boy, 14, who moved from New Jersey to West Bank

An American teen who moved from New Jersey to the West Bank was shot dead by Israeli troops. The IDF said they were targeting “terrorists” throwing rocks at cars.

Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, 14, was shot along with two other teens in Turmus Ayya in the West Bank on Sunday, April 6, the Bergen Record reported. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), troops opened fire on “three terrorists who were throwing rocks at a highway with civilian vehicles.”

“The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists,” the statement said.

Who was Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee?

Rabee was a US citizen whose family moved from Saddle Brook when he was in elementary school. He was detained before he was declared dead. His relatives said that his body, which was returned to his parents, had multiple bullet holes.

On Sunday, mourners gathered at the Palestinian American Community Center in Clifton, where Rabee’s uncle, Saleh Rabee, is a board member. “Amer was shot by Israeli military officers along with two other 15-year-olds from the village,” the centre said in a statement, according to the New York Post. “Amer’s death was entirely preventable and horrifically unjust. He was a child, a 14-year-old boy, with an entire life ahead of him.”

Rabee’s death comes at a time when there are high tensions in the occupied West Bank, where violence has erupted ever since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian American Community Center urged US officials to investigate Amer’s killing, saying the nation “has a duty to protect and bring justice to its citizens.” “We are united in grief,” the centre wrote in a statement, “but also in our collective hope for a future where such atrocities no longer occur and where justice prevails for all.”