An American teen who moved from New Jersey to the West Bank was shot and killed by Israeli troops who said they were targeting “terrorists” throwing rocks at cars.
Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, a 14-year-old US citizen whose family moved from Saddle Brook when he was in elementary school, was shot along with two other teens in Turmus Ayya in the West Bank on Sunday, the Bergen Record reported.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops opened fire on “three terrorists who were throwing rocks at a highway with civilian vehicles.”
Relatives mourn over the body of 14-year-old Palestinian Amer Muhammad Saadeh Rabee during his funeral in the village of Turmus Ayya, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on April 7, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
An Israeli military vehicle is parked outside a cemetery in the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on March 30, 2025. AFP via Getty Images“The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists,” the statement said.
Rabee was detained before he was declared dead, with relatives saying his body was returned to his parents with multiple bullet holes.
Mourners gathered Sunday 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 center said in a statement.
“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.”
Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, 14, a US citizen who grew up in Saddle Brook, was killed Sunday, April 6, by Israeli troops in the West Bank. Facebook/ Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mourners carrying the body of 14-year-old Palestinian American boy Amer Mohammad Rabee at his funeral in Turmus Ayya village, near Ramallah in the West Bank. REUTERSRabee moved from Saddle Brook to the West Bank when he was in elementary school, according to the Record.
The teen’s death comes as tensions remain high in the occupied West Bank, where violence has flourished ever since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Palestinian American Community Center also called on 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 center 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.”
With Post wires
