US State Department calls for opening an investigation into killing of a Palestinian teenager near Ramallah at hands of Israeli soldiers

WASHINGTON: Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State, Vedant Patel, said he was devastated about the killing of 17-year-old U.S. citizen Tawfiq Hafiz Ajjaq in the West Bank by Israeli forces' fire. In a press briefing, he said the US has called for an urgent investigation to determine the circumstances of his death and for accountability to be met as appropriate as well. Tawfiq Hafiz Ajjaq, a 17-year-old Palestinian-American, was fatally shot by Israeli forces near the town of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya, east of the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on January 19. The slain teenager returned to his homeland, Palestine, almost a year and a half ago after living abroad. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency