It was reported by the Associated Press that an American-Palestinian was shot and killed while driving their pick-up truck in the West Bank. It's reported that 10 bullets struck the truck with many of them hitting the back windshield and truck bed.
There was a single passenger, 16-year-old, Mohammed Salameh, who described the event as Israeli fire hitting the back of the truck before it overturned.
The victim was identified, according to the AP report, as Tawfic Abel Jabbar who was 17. In their initial statement, the Israeli Police stated that the shooting was targeting people who "purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities along Highway 60." The police do not know who fired the shots but at the time of writing they have described this event as "ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier, and a civilian." Salameh has denied allegations that he and Jabbar had thrown any rocks and also stated there had been no attempt to make an arrest.
Salameh was interviewed on Tuesday alongside Jabbar's father, Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, in the family's home village of Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharquiya. The Associated Press reveaed that Salameh mentioned that he and Jabbar were driving along a road that was several hundred meters away from Highway 60 before they came under fire. After Jabbar was hit and the truck overturned, he fled back to the village to get help. Jabbar's father went on to describe that once he arrived on the scene, he found his son's body amongst blood stains and shattered glass.
He also spurred the claims that his son was throwing stones. Salameh's full account of the incident begins on Friday afternoon when he and Jabbar wanted to go on a picnic, while on the road the two realized they had forgotten charcoal and began making their way back to the village on a dirt road before they came under fire. Once the bullets began to fly Salameh ducked while a fourth bullet struck Jabbar in the head. The AP report further disclosed that the truck then proceeded to go off-road and flip several times over. Once Jabbar's father and other family members arrived on the scene soldiers pointed their weapons at them and demanded they remove their shirts to prove they were not a threat.
An Israeli officer told reporters that the account of the witnesses only covered one side of the incident and that the investigation is ongoing. The officer also didn't make any further comments on the grounds of anonymity and that they did not have the authority to speak further on the incident to news outlets. In response, the White House has demanded a thorough investigation into the incident as this incident is following the US's repeated warnings to Israel that they should control the violence against Palestinians.
