Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called on Tuesday for an investigation into the death of a New Jersey teenager, whom Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed in Judea and Samaria.
The New Jersey senator told JNS that ongoing violence in the area is a threat to peace in the region and that U.S. President Donald Trump needs to insist on getting a complete picture of the incident that led to the death of Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, 14, who grew up in Saddle River, N.J.
Rabee reportedly was throwing rocks when he was shot and killed.
“Donald Trump should be asking for accountability and for a real investigation into what happened,” Booker told JNS at the U.S. Capitol. “When children are dying like this, it is horrifically tragic. It should cause anguish amongst everyone to see children dying.”
“It’s a violation of Jewish values, a violation of Muslim values, a violation of Christian values,” the senator said. “There needs to be an investigation of what was going on and how it happened.”
The state’s junior senator, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), stated that Rabee’s death is “a tragedy and a reminder of the urgency and importance of doing everything we can to lower hostilities and find a path to a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
The two senators said that Trump should have asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch an investigation into Rabee’s death, which Booker, in an earlier statement, called “another devastating reminder of the horrific human cost of ongoing conflict and tensions in the region.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, stated that he also wanted to know the whole story about what happened.
“As the circumstances of his death remain unclear, I am asking for answers from the Israeli government as to why Amer, who was just 14 years old, was killed,” Murphy stated.
A Trump administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told JNS that the IDF initially said that the incident occurred during a counterterrorism operation and that Israel is investigating.
The official offered condolences to Rabee’s family on their loss and said the administration has no higher priority than the welfare of Americans overseas. The official said that there would be no further comment at this time out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Booker told JNS that Trump should restore U.S. sanctions on Israeli settlers and groups accused of violence against Palestinians, which the president removed when he assumed office. The senator said that “the instability” in Judea and Samaria is “a threat to whole regional peace.”
“The settlers have been responsible for some of the most extreme outrageous things that were justifiably sanctioned,” he said. “Those sanctions should be back on the table in order to get to the bottom of a real investigation into what happened.”
Both Booker and Kim combined their anguish over Rabee’s death with concern over the future of another New Jersey native, Edan Alexander, who grew up in Tenafly. Alexander was one of the more than 200 hostages captured in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and has been in Hamas captivity in Gaza for more than 500 days.
“Amer should be the last child killed in this conflict, and Edan must be returned home,” Kim stated. “A further spiral of violence is not a path that will yield a single victor, and it’s one the United States should work to ensure is stopped immediately.”
In his statement, Booker said that both Israel and Hamas need to work toward a new ceasefire. The last one fell apart after Hamas rejected U.S.-backed proposals to extend the ceasefire and then refused to release more hostages.
Booker renewed calls for a two-state solution in the Middle East, a Jewish state and a separate Palestinian state.
“To start this work, all parties must recommit to working toward a ceasefire agreement that gets the hostages home, facilitates humanitarian aid into Gaza and breaks the cycle of violence in the West Bank and the region,” Booker stated. “This is the only way to truly create a pathway towards a just and sustainable peace in the region that protects Israelis and Palestinians.”
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman, was asked during the department’s press briefing on Tuesday about Rabee and two others who were shot in Judea and Samaria.
“We send condolences to the families involved. These were teenagers. There is an investigation that is going on,” she said. “We’re aware of the reports from the IDF that this was a counterterrorism act. We need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the ground, but we’re aware of that, yes.”