George Noll, who heads the Palestinian Affairs Unit in the US Embassy to Israel, called the family of a Palestinian woman who was shot and killed while charging at IDF troops near Bethlehem. Noll offered his condolences. The incident, which is still being investigated by the IDF, took place at an IDF checkpoint. The woman ran at the soldiers who fired a warning shot in the air before shooting her in the legs. Soldiers administered first aid to her after which she was rushed by Palestinian medics to a Beit Jala hospital, where she died of blood loss from a torn artery in her thigh.

The military later confirmed that she was unarmed.

“The United States welcomes Israel’s decision to investigate her shooting death,” the Palestinian Affairs Unit tweeted, in an apparent reference to the IDF’s statement on the Sunday incident, which said it was “clarifying” what had happened. The IDF has yet to announce any formal investigation into the matter.

It is exceedingly rare for a US official to comment on the death of a Palestinian who is not an American citizen. The last time the Biden administration weighed in on the death of a Palestinian was after 78-year-old Omar As’ad, an American citizen, suffered a lethal heart attack after being bound, gagged and abandoned at a construction site in the January cold by Israeli soldiers. Two IDF officers were removed from their positions over As’ad’s death, and the head of the unit, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, was formally censured.

Citing an unnamed source, The Jewish Press reported that the Palestinian Affairs Unit is now operating like an independent consulate to the Palestinian Authority with Noll  acting as an ambassador answering directly to the Biden State Department.

The incident comes in the midst of a deadly wave of Palestinian terrorism when the IDF is at a heightened state of readiness. 14 Israelis have been murdered in the past few weeks. Also on Sunday, a Palestinian woman was shot and killed after stabbing an IDF Border Policeman in Hebron.

Representatives of the European Union and United Nations have condemned the killing of the unarmed woman.

Since April 2021, the U.S. has provided over half a billion dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority, including $417 million through UNRWA and $75 million via USAID. There are currently several cases against the Biden administration funding the PA in contravention of the Taylor Force Act.