Killing of Mohammad Khdour

Killing of Mohammad Khdour
Location	Biddu, West Bank, Palestine
Date	February 10, 2024
Attack type	Homicide by shooting
Deaths	1
Perpetrators	Israeli Defense Forces

On February 10, 2024, 17-year-old Palestinian-American Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour was shot and killed by an Israeli gunman while driving with his cousin outside Biddu in the West Bank. According to news organizations, the killing was perpetrated by Israeli forces. Khdour's killing came a month after the killing of another 17-year-old Palestinian-American named Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, making him the second American citizen killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War.

Khdour's early life

Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour was born in Hollywood, Florida. He was a United States citizen. Khdour had resided on a hillside residence in Biddu in the West Bank since the age of 2.

Killing

On February 10, 2024, Khdour was driving his brother's Chevrolet with his cousin on the hillsides of Biddu in the West Bank. Before the shooting, the two boys took photos of each other for social media and ate chocolate-covered waffles. While returning to the village, the two heard gunfire before Khdour was shot once in the head by a bullet through the car window. Khdour's cousin ran out of the vehicle to escape. According to Khdour's brother Hamed, the cousin said the shots had come from a white Mitsubishi with an Israeli license plate, and that the car was on the other side of the security fence separating Israeli Territory from Biddu.

Videos showed a group of men pulling Khdour's limp body out of his car through the shattered glass. He died hours later at 11 PM in a hospital in Ramallah.

Reactions

Upon news of Khdour's killing, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered his "deepest condolences" to the families of both Khdour and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, and called for an investigation to be launched into their deaths, stating "We’ve made clear that with regard to the incidents you’ve alluded to, there needs to be an investigation. We need to get the facts. And if appropriate, there needs to be accountability..." The State Department's Office of Palestinian Affairs denounced the killing on X, writing "We are devastated by the killing of 17-year-old US citizen Mohammad Ahmad Khdour..." and that "The United States has no greater priority than the safety and security of US citizens. We urgently call for a quick, thorough, and transparent investigation, including full accountability."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced Khdour's killing as "murder" and called on President Joe Biden to denounce his death, as well as an overnight strike that killed 100 people in Rafah the same day. CAIR's National Executive Director Nihad Awad criticized the administration in a statement, writing that "The Biden administration has repeatedly failed to hold the far-right Israeli government accountable for attacks like last night’s Rafah massacre and even attacks on American citizens, like the assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the murder of another American teenager, Tawfiq [Abdel Jabbar], last month. These failures embolden the Israeli government to kill more innocent people with impunity." The statement also called for Biden to protect Americans in other nations and that "he must stop enabling genocidal war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza."

The Israeli Defense Forces referred questions about the shooting to the Shin Bet, who gave no comment to news outlets.

Stephanie Hallett, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Israel, described Israel's response to the killings of Khdour and Abdel Jabbar as "unsatisfactory," with Maryland Junior Senator Chris Van Hollen stating that he did not believe the US State Department to be "actively pursuing" the incidents, and that it had "has not taken sufficient action to hold individuals accountable for the killings of American citizens."