Orwa Abd al-Wahhab Hammad, 15, an American teen from New Orleans has been shot dead in clashes in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah. Orwa is the second US child to die in the region this week. (Family Handout)

JERUSALEM - An American teen from New Orleans was shot and killed during clashes in the West Bank village of Silwad near Ramallah Friday.

An army spokesman told Reuters Israeli forces "managed to prevent an attack when they encountered a Palestinian man hurling a molotov cocktail at them on the main road next to Silwad. They opened fire and they confirmed a hit."

Orwa Abd al-Wahhab Hammad, 15, was born in Ramallah and moved with his family to New Orleans, according to his brother Mohammad. His mother and brothers had traveled with him to the West Bank and his father will arrive from the United States on Sunday for the funeral.

The State Department confirms Orwa was a U.S. citizen, and says officials from the Consulate General in Jerusalem are in contact with family and providing all consular assistance.

Orwa is the second American child to die in the region this week. On Wednesday, 3-month old Chaya Zissel Braun was killed in Jerusalem when a Palestinian man drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a transit stop. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the incident as a "terrorist attack." Her parents had traveled to Israel from Rockland County, New York, so her father could study in a yeshiva.