American teen born in Louisiana is killed by Israeli fire in West Bank as his Palestinian family rails against Washington saying US citizens do not know the 'true story'

Tawfiq Ajaq, 17, was killed Friday - less then a year after relocating to the countryHis parents brought him there last year to connect with his Palestinian heritageSpeaking from his funeral overseas, the teen's dad, Hafez Ajaq, criticized the US

A child born in Louisiana has been killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank.

Tawfiq Ajaq, 17, was shot and killed Friday – less then a year after relocating to the war-torn country to finish high school and reconnect with Palestinian culture.

His parents brought him and his four siblings this past summer, before the conflict broke out.

He was shot dead as he made the drive back to the small village by a member of the Israeli military, they said Saturday – before claiming the Biden Administration made the murder possible.

Speaking from his funeral overseas, the teen’s father, Hafez Ajaq, criticized the country’s long-standing support for Israel, and implored Americans to ‘see with their own eyes’ the truth of the conflict.

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Tawfiq Ajaq, 17, was shot and killed Friday – less then a year after relocating to the war-torn country to finish high school and reconnect with Palestinian culture

Relatives mourn at his funeral in his family’s Palestinian home village in Al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, West Bank, Saturday

Meanwhile, both the US and Israel have issued statements indicating they are investigating the teen’s death, though the latter has yet to confirm responsibility.

As of Sunday morning, both probes – with Israel’s being carried out by the country’s police force – have yet to produce anything substantial.

Hafez, meanwhile, claimed Americans are not getting the ‘true story’ about the shooting – and the conflict in general – and thus need to ‘see with their own eyes’ the senselessness of the violence.

‘They are killer machines,’ he said of Israeli forces, who have received more than $260 billion from the US alone since the country was formed in 1945.

‘They are using our tax dollars in the US to support the weapons to kill our own children,’ he continued, speaking from the ceremony at Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya.

‘The American society does not know the true story,’ he went on. ‘Come here on the ground and see what’s going on.’

He then asked: ‘How many fathers and mothers have to say goodbye to their children?’

‘How many more?’

Ajaq – one of more than 30 Americans killed in the conflict – was born and raised in Gretna, Louisiana, near New Orleans, relatives said

His parents brought him to Ash-Sharqiya – which has a population of under 5,000 – last year, and on Saturday, he was given a hero’s sendoff. Crowds of Palestinians were pictured pulsing through village streets, as men who held aloft a stretcher with the teen’s body.

It was wrapped in a Palestinian flag. Ajaq was killed Friday by Israeli fire and police say they have launched an investigation

‘I am feeling full of sadness, for his mother, his father, his uncles, myself – all his relatives,’ said Mohammad Salen, Ajaq’s great uncle. ‘In this situation, the sadness is covering us from all over’

‘The good always dies young,’ Tawfiq’s cousin, Maher Abdul Jabbar, said. ‘That’s a prime example of what happened to my cousin.’

He further told NBC News : ‘Born and raised in the U.S., he’s been here for one year,”

‘He does not know anything – I’m teaching him what’s life. I’m teaching him what’s the land. What’s the cost of the land.

‘And here he is,’ he continued, after carrying the boy’s casket. ‘He’s [now] paying for it, for freedom.’

Newsnation also spoke to several of the victim’s family members Saturday, and learned how they are ‘heartbroken’ over the loss.

They described how they are still trying to piece together what happened, in their  first broadcast interview since the incident.

‘I am feeling full of sadness, for his mother, his father, his uncles, myself – all his relatives,’ said Mohammad Salen, Ajaq’s great uncle .

‘In this situation, the sadness is covering us from all over.’

Appearing by videolink, the man went on to reveal how Ajaq had been planning to spend his senior year overseas, before heading back to New Orleans, his birthplace, for college.

There, Salen said, the teen intended to study business – dream that’s now been cut short.

The boy’s father, meanwhile, claimed Americans are not getting the ‘true story’ about the shooting – and the conflict in general – and thus need to ‘see with their own eyes’ the senselessness of the violence

‘They are killer machines,’ he said of Israeli forces, who have received more than $260 billion from the US alone since the country was formed in 1945

‘They are using our tax dollars in the US to support the weapons to kill our own children,’ he continued, speaking from the ceremony at Al-Mazra’a Ash-Sharqiya

‘The good always dies young,’ Tawfiq’s cousin, Maher Abdul Jabbar, said. ‘That’s a prime example of what happened to my cousin.’

He and others proceeded to explain how Ajaq had been a member of a local mosque in the New Orleans area before moving, and that the place of worship had held a vigil for him Saturday night as officials’ investigation continues.

When asked if he ‘could tell him something now’, Jabbar repliedd: ‘I would tell him that I was always proud of him – [that] he was such a good kid. [That] I loved him.

‘That’s the main thing,’ he added, growing emotional. ‘I loved him; our whole family loved him. He was really precious to us.’

Israeli defense forces, meanwhile, have said they are investigating the incident, issuing a statement.

The bulletin stated that they had already received reports about an incident that took place near where Ajaq was killed, where an off-duty police officer and a civilian ‘fired toward a Palestinian individual suspected of hurling rocks in the area’.

‘An IDF soldier was present in the area,’ the military said. ‘The claim that the soldier fired at the Palestinian is under review. The Israel Police have opened an investigation into the incident.’

The US Department addressed the teen’s death in its own statement, one bolstered by comments from NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby at a White House press conference.

Israeli forces, meanwhile, have said they are probing the incident, issuing a statement claiming they had already received reports about an incident that took place near the shooting, where an off-duty cop and a civilian ‘fired toward a Palestinian individual suspected of hurling rocks in the area’

‘An IDF soldier was present in the area,’ the military said. ‘The claim that the soldier fired at the Palestinian is under review. The Israel Police have opened an investigation into the incident’

he incident is only the latest latest fatal shooting in the West Bank, where nearly 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war more than three months ago

The US Department addressed the teen’s death in its own statement, saying it has asked Israel for more information

The sparse statement read: ‘We can confirm the death of a US citizen civilian in the West Bank on January 19, 2024.

‘We are working to understand the circumstances of the incident and have asked the government of Israel for further information.’

Questioned about the killing at Friday’s press briefing at the White House, the U.S. National Security Council spokesman said: ‘It’s definitely deeply concerning,’

‘I’m afraid I don’t have anymore information,’ he added. [But] [W]e’re seriously concerned about it.’

Meanwhile, the incident is only the latest latest fatal shooting in the West Bank, where nearly 370 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza more than three months ago.

The Biden administration recently has repeatedly expressed concern about violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

Ajaq – one of more than 30 Americans killed in the conflict – was born and raised in Gretna, Louisiana, near New Orleans, relatives said.

His parents brought him to Ash-Sharqiya – which has a population of under 5,000 – last year, and on Saturday, he was given a hero’s sendoff.

Crowds of Palestinians were pictured pulsing through village streets, as men who held aloft a stretcher with the teen’s body.

It was wrapped in a Palestinian flag.