A 17-year-old Palestinian American was killed in the West Bank on Saturday, a family member told The Washington Post, making him the second known U.S. citizen killed there since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.

Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour was shot twice in the head near the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem, before he was rushed to a hospital, his aunt Sana’a Ayesha Alkhdour said. He was pronounced dead Saturday night.

“He loved cars and hanging out with his friends,” she told The Post on Tuesday. “We’re devastated.”

She said he was close to a wooded area with a relative when he was shot.

The U.S. State Department confirmed the death Saturday of an American civilian in the West Bank in a statement Tuesday, adding that it was seeking additional information from the Israeli government. Israeli forces were allegedly behind the shooting, according to the human rights group Defense for Children International-Palestine and Sana’a Ayesha Alkhdour.

The Post could not independently confirm the circumstances of the death. The Israel Defense Forces referred a request for comment to Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence service, which did not immediately respond.

Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour’s funeral was held Monday, and a large crowd gathered in the streets of the village, his aunt said. “There must have been a thousand people there,” Sana’a Ayesha Alkhdour said.

The 17-year-old had three brothers and a sister and was born in Florida, according to his aunt. The family left the United States when he was young, and the high-schooler completed most of his education in the West Bank.

Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour’s death comes just weeks after the killing of Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, another 17-year-old American, in the West Bank.

Abdel Jabbar, who moved to the West Bank from Louisiana, was fatally shot in the head in January. In a statement that shed little light on the circumstances surrounding his death, Israeli police said an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier and an Israeli settler had all been involved in a “firearm discharge … directed towards a perceived threat.”

While the toll of Israel’s war in Gaza has captured global attention, Israel has also stepped up its military activity in the West Bank, which included a deadly raid at a hospital last month by Israeli security forces disguised as medics and patients. Settler violence in the area has risen at an unprecedented rate since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. At least 388 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then, according to the United Nations.

Last week, Samaher Esmail, a 46-year-old American woman, was arrested by the IDF in the West Bank over what it described as “incitement on social media.” Her family said she was handcuffed and dragged out of the house in an early-morning raid.

previous coverage

• Young Israelis block aid to Gaza while IDF soldiers stand and watch
• IDF arrests US citizen in West Bank for ‘incitement on social media’