JERUSALEM: The families of two Palestinian-American teenagers killed in separate but eerily similar incidents in the West Bank say investigators from the American Embassy have visited their homes to look into the shootings.
The launch of American probes into the killings of Mohammad Khdour and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar reflects what appears to be a lack of confidence in the Israeli justice system to properly investigate the cases. Rights groups have long said that Israeli investigations into killings of Palestinians rarely lead to prosecutions, and the State Department has previously called for an “expeditious and thorough” Israeli investigation into Abdel Jabbar’s killing.
Both shootings occurred as the Biden administration signals a desire to crack down on settler violence in the volatile territory.
Khdour, who was born in Hollywood, Florida, was shot last Saturday while driving with a cousin on a hillside in Biddu, the town just outside of Jerusalem where Khdour had lived since the age of 2, relatives said. Khdour was born in Hollywood, Florida.
Seeking some fresh air after studying, Khdour joined the cousin on a drive to the forested hillside where villagers often barbecued, his brother Hamed Khdour said.
In videos and photos taken before the shooting and seen by The Associated Press, the boys joked around, taking photos of each other for social media and eating chocolate-covered waffles.
The boys were returning to the village, Hamed said, when they heard gunfire. At least one shot came through the car window, hitting Mohammad squarely in the head.
Hamed said his cousin told the family that the shots came from a white Mitsubishi with an Israeli license plate parked on a road below the hill, a vehicle that villagers said they had seen before. Hamed said the car was across the security fence separating Biddu from Israeli territory. The cousin then managed to escape and run back to the village.
A video taken directly after the incident and seen by The Associated Press showed a group of men pulling a body out of the car, littered with shattered glass and stained with blood. Hamed said Mohammad was pronounced dead at a Ramallah hospital late Saturday night.
Ahmad Khdour, Mohammad’s father, said he did not know if Israel had begun investigating the case and had heard nothing from Israeli officials.
The Israeli military referred questions to the Shin Bet internal security service, which did not respond to requests for comment.
But US Embassy officials visited the home and the scene of the shooting Thursday, taking pictures of the car Khdour was driving and the scene around it, Mohammad’s father said. He said the officials told the family they are preparing a report on the incident.
The US Office of Palestinian Affairs wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “devastated” by the killing and called for “a quick, thorough, and transparent investigation, including full accountability.”
Khdour lived in Biddu with his mother and four brothers. He hoped to go back to the US to study law once he finished his final year of high school, Hamed said.
“Mohammad was a simple kid, like any other kid. He had dreams. He loved cars,” said Hamed. “He never fought with anyone. Everyone liked him.”
The shooting came nearly a month after the killing of Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, also a 17-year-old Palestinian-American shot while driving down a dirt road close to his village in the northern West Bank.
The sole passenger in the vehicle said the shooting was unprovoked, describing apparent Israeli fire hitting the back of the vehicle before it overturned several times. The incident prompted an expression of concern from the White House and an uncommonly quick pledge from the Israeli police to investigate.
But Israeli police have still not released any new findings in the case.
A video shared with the AP by Abdel Jabbar’s father raised new questions of the police’s original theory, which never mentioned that the teen had been shot while driving.
Instead, the police said that a civilian, an off-duty police officer and a soldier had targeted people “purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities” along a main West Bank thoroughfare.
The video, which the father said was taken moments after the shooting, shows two Israeli soldiers standing about 20 meters (yards) from the vehicle, guns cocked — indicating that soldiers were in the vicinity that day.
Abdel Jabbar’s father said that Israeli investigators took the vehicle into custody for under a week before returning it.
He said that last week that US Embassy investigators collected medical and legal reports issued by the Ramallah prosecutor’s office and the hospital that treated Abdel Jabbar. The reports indicated that the cause of Tawfic’s death was a gunshot wound to the right side of the head.
Tawfic was from Gretna, Louisiana, and had been in the West Bank for under a year. Like Khdour, he was planning to return to the US for college.
In an unrelated incident, Israel arrested a 46-year-old Palestinian-American woman, also from Gretna, last week for alleged incitement in posts on social media. The woman’s family says it has not seen or heard from her since.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said a week ago that he was “confident” that Ambassador Jack Lew was looking into Samaher Esmail’s case, as well as a circumstances around the detention of two Palestinian-Americans in Gaza that Israel says are affiliated with Hamas.
“Obviously, this is the kind of thing we take very seriously, so we’ll be talking to our Israeli counterparts and trying to get information, more context here about what happened,” he said.
The deaths come as violence surges across the occupied territory. Since the shock attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 from Gaza into southern Israel, Israel has also held the West Bank in a tight grip.
Biden’s administration has provided military and diplomatic support for Israel’s war against Hamas. Still, the administration has condemned rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, most recently releasing sanctions targeting four settlers.
Since Oct. 7, 395 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli fire, according to Palestinian health officials. Most have been killed in clashes during near nightly Israeli army raids aimed at suspected militants.
US investigators visit homes of two Palestinian-American teens killed in the West Bank
https://arab.news/pmrva
US investigators visit homes of two Palestinian-American teens killed in the West Bank
- Rights groups have long said that Israeli investigations into killings of Palestinians rarely lead to prosecutions
- The State Department has previously called for an “expeditious and thorough” Israeli investigation into Abdel Jabbar’s killing
Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon will last beyond 60 days, Netanyahu’s office says
- There was no immediate comment from Lebanon or Hezbollah
The deal, brokered by the United States and France, ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah. The fighting peaked with a major Israeli offensive that displaced more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon and left Hezbollah severely weakened.
Under the agreement, which came into effect on Nov. 27, Hezbollah weapons and fighters must be removed from areas south of the Litani river and Israeli troops should withdraw as the Lebanese military deploys into the region, all within a 60-day timeframe due to conclude on Monday at 4 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israeli military’s withdrawal process was “contingent on the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, while Hezbollah withdraws beyond the Litani.”
“Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, the gradual withdrawal process will continue, in full coordination with the United States,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Lebanon or Hezbollah.
UN suspends all trips into Houthi-held areas of Yemen over staffers being detained
- The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers
DUBAI: The United Nations on Friday suspended all travel into areas held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels after more of their staff were detained by the rebels.
The statement comes after the Houthis detained UN staffers, as well as individuals associated with the once-open US Embassy in Sanaa and aid groups.
“Yesterday, the de facto authorities in Sanaa detained additional UN personnel working in areas under their control,” the UN statement read. “To ensure the security and safety of all its staff, the United Nations has suspended all official movements into and within areas under the de facto authorities’ control.”
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the UN’s decision, which came as they have been trying to deescalate their attacks on shipping and Israel after a ceasefire was reached in the Israel-Hamas war.
US President Donald Trump separately has moved to reinstate a terrorism designation he made on the group late in his first term that had been revoked by President Joe Biden, potentially setting the stage for new tensions with the rebels.
The Houthis earlier this week said they would limit their attacks on ships in the Red Sea corridor and released the 25-member crew of the Galaxy Leader, a ship they seized back in November 2023.
Israel building military installations in Golan demilitarized zone
- UN: Israeli construction along Area of Separation is ‘severe violation’ of 1974 ceasefire agreement
- Israeli forces have been operating in southern Syria since fall of Assad regime in December
LONDON: The Israeli military is building installations in the demilitarized zone between the occupied Golan Heights and Syria, satellite images published by the BBC have revealed.
Israeli forces moved into the Area of Separation agreed in the 1974 ceasefire with Syria, crossing the so-called Alpha Line following the fall of the Assad regime in December.
The satellite images, taken on Tuesday, show construction work and trucks around 600 meters inside the Area of Separation, including a track linking the site to another Israeli-administered road in the area.
Footage obtained by a drone operated by a Syrian journalist on Monday also identified excavators and bulldozers at the location.
The Israeli military told the BBC that its “forces are operating in southern Syria, within the buffer zone and at strategic points, to protect the residents of northern Israel.”
The UN Disengagement Observer Force has said Israeli construction along the Area of Separation is “a severe violation” of the 1974 ceasefire agreement.
Jeremy Binnie, Middle East specialist at defense intelligence company Janes, told the BBC: “The photo shows what appear to be four prefabricated guard posts that they will presumably crane into position in the corners, so this is somewhere they are planning to maintain at least an interim presence.”
It is not the first time that the BBC has identified Israeli forces inside the Area of Separation. Soldiers were spotted near the town of Majdal Shams, around 5.5 km from the new site, while satellite pictures taken in November found a trench being dug by Israeli personnel along the Alpha Line near the town of Jubata Al-Khashab.
Hamas says to provide names of 4 Israeli hostages on Friday for next swap
- Four Israeli women hostages to be freed on Saturday as part of a second release
- Hamas has not released definitive information on how many captives are still alive or the names of those who have died
CAIRO: A senior Hamas official told AFP that his group will provide on Friday the names of four Israeli women hostages to be freed the following day as part of a second release under the ceasefire with Israel.
“Today, Hamas will provide the names of four hostages as part of the second prisoner exchange,” said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau based in Doha.
“Tomorrow, Saturday, the four women hostages will be released in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners, as agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.”
Naim also said that once the exchange takes place, war-displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza will be able to begin returning to the north of the territory.
“An Egyptian-Qatari committee will oversee the implementation of this part of the agreement on the ground,” he said.
“The displaced will return from the south to the north via Al-Rashid Road, as Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from there in accordance with the agreement.”
The ceasefire agreement was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States after months of intense negotiations.
The truce, the second in the more than 15 months of war, began on Sunday, with the first three hostages released in exchange for around 90 Palestinian prisoners.
The war between Hamas and Israel broke out after the militants’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
During the attack, militants took 251 hostages, 91 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are deceased.
The first truce, implemented in late November 2023, lasted just one week but involved the release of 105 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Since then, Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the UN considers are reliable.
Iraqi president calls for more global action on desertification
- Iraq is the world’s fifth most vulnerable country to climate change
DAVOS: Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid has called for more action on desertification, amid global concerns of land degradation that has affected agricultural productivity, caused pollution in waterways and resulted in increased frequency of droughts.
“We attend many conferences, joined many groups for solving desertification but unfortunately the actual achievement has been very little to show for. I appeal to you, once we make decisions for decreasing desertification, let us act on it,” Rashid said on Friday.
Speaking during a World Economic Forum panel “On Firmer Ground with Land Restoration,” the Iraqi leader told participants that land restoration was not just an environmental imperative but also a moral duty.
“In Iraq, we face the consequences of environmental challenges. Nearly 40 percent of our land is affected by desertification, and our water resources essential for agriculture and livelihood are under severe strain. These problems are made worse by climate change, rising temperatures, reduced river flows from our neighboring countries,” the president, a British-educated engineer, said.
Iraq is the world’s fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, and there are grave concerns regarding water and food security, according to the UN.
The depletion of water resources and the spread of desertification are exacerbating Iraq’s problems, leading to conditions including scorching temperatures exceeding 50°C — recorded in 2023 — coupled with water scarcity, desertification and reduced rainfall, the global body said.
Government figures show that desertification has ravaged 71 percent of the nation’s arable land, with an additional 10,000 hectares becoming barren each year. This degradation has reduced the amount of cultivable land to just 1.4 million hectares and has led to a 70 percent decline in agricultural output.
“Iraq is taking bold and good steps to combat these challenges,” according to Rashid, who was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003-2010.
One of these steps was the implementation of a 10-year program to combat desertification that prioritizes reforestation, soil preservation and sustainable agricultural practice, Rashid said.
Iraq needs to plant 15 billion trees to combat desertification, establish forests and reduce greenhouse gases, its agriculture ministry said, considering the country’s forest area is only 8,250 sq km, or just 2 percent of its total area.
“We are establishing a buffer zone around our cities to prevent desertification by planting native and drought-resistant vegetation. These efforts are not just environmental but economic. Land restoration is integral to Iraq’s long-term economic plan … (our) development particularly in agriculture, energy and water security,” Rashid said.
“Additionally, we are promoting smart agriculture, diversifying crops, encouraging organic and regenerating farming and mandating sustainable land use practices through legislation,” the Iraqi leader added.
“Sustainable development is key to growth without compromising our environmental health.”
The Iraqi leader also emphasized the need for cross-border cooperation and collaboration with its neighbors — Turkiye and Iran — particularly on water resource matters.
“Iraq is engaged with negotiations in upstream countries including Turkiye and Iran to secure (an) equitable water-sharing agreement for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These negotiations are essential for the future of our region,” he said.
Turkish and Iranian dams upstream on the shared Tigris and Euphrates rivers are cutting Iraq off from much-needed water relief. It is estimated that Turkiye’s various dam and hydropower construction projects have reduced Iraq’s water supply along the two rivers by 80 percent since 1975.
Meanwhile, Iran’s development push has led to the proliferation of dams, impacting Iraq, to about 647 in 2018 from only 316 in 2012.
“Iraq is working with many international organizations to adopt climate resilient agriculture … gaining access to expertise for funding need to succeed. Ultimately, we know that lasting solutions require local actions; mobilizing communities is at the heart of our strategy,” Rashid said.
