The Palestinian youth who was caught on video earlier this week being beaten by members of the Israeli Border Police is a United States citizen from Florida, the US State Department confirmed on Saturday.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki named the youth as Tariq Khdeir, 15. He was a cousin of Muhammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian whose burned body was found Wednesday in the al-Quds.

The incident took place on Thursday outside the home of the murdered teenager, said to be his cousin. The Forward quoted the Council on American-Islamic Relations as saying that he suffered serious injuries in the beating and is being held under police guard at Hadassah Hospital in al-Quds.

Khdeir is due to be brought before a judge in al-Quds on Sunday, Ma'an news agency reported.

Two videos of the incident were posted online. One was shot by a neighbor and distributed to family and a television station, while the other was shot from the other side of the street and posted to YouTube.

Both show Border Police officers hitting a Palestinian detainee who is cuffed and lying on the floor. One of the officers appears to be sitting on the youth while his colleague is kicking and punching him. One of the videos shows the officers dragging what appears to be an unconscious detainee away.

After seeing the video, Khdeir's parents told CNN that the victim was their teenage son. Relatives released pictures of the teenager with bruises and swollen lips and nose.

NTJ/HH