US citizen killed in West Bank settler attack

By Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -A Palestinian American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and a second man was shot dead, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement, in a confrontation overnight.

U.S. citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said. Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23 was shot in the chest.

Musallet's family, from Tampa Florida, said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.

"This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes," the family statement said.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday it was aware of the incident, but that the department had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones" of the reported victim.

The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.

The military said forces were dispatched to the scene and used non-lethal weapons to disperse the crowds.

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups.

Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank.

U.S. President Donald Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

The United Nations' highest court said last year Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The West Bank is among the territories that Palestinians seek for an independent state.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington, Menna Alaa ElDin in Cairo and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Editing by William Mallard and Sharon Singleton)