RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced in a statement that a Palestinian American man was beaten to death by Israeli settlers and another man was shot dead during an overnight confrontation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
According to the Ministry, the victim was Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, a United States citizen. He was brutally assaulted during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah. The second victim was Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, who 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 the victim's brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but 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's statement specified.
On the U.S. side, a State Department spokesperson said on Friday that they were aware of the incident but had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones" of the victim.
The Israeli military stated it is investigating the incident in the town of Sinjil. According to the military, confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, causing them minor injuries. Israeli forces were dispatched to the scene and used non-lethal weapons to disperse the crowd.
According to human rights groups, settler violence in the West Bank has increased since the start of Israel's war against the armed Islamist group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023. In recent years, dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks.
The context of the incident is further complicated as, in January, U.S. President Donald Trump rescinded sanctions imposed by the previous Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of involvement in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
