US-Palestinian beaten to death in Israeli settler attack in West Bank, says health ministry
Saif al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat was beaten to death on Friday in Sinjil, a village north of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Musalat, born and based in Florida, travelled to the West Bank last month to spend time with relatives, his family said in a statement issued by lawyer Diana Halum following the deadly attack.
The Palestinian health ministry said a second man, Mohammed Rizq Hussein al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot during the attack and "left to bleed for hours".
Musalat's family said they were "devastated" at his death, describing the 20-year-old as a "kind, hard-working and deeply respected" man who was deeply connected to his Palestinian heritage.
They said he was "protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it".
According to the family's statement, settlers blocked an ambulance and paramedics from reaching Musalat as he lay injured, and he died before making it to hospital.
His death was "an unimaginable nightmare and in justice that no family should ever have to face", they added.
"We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice."
Israel's military said violence flared after Palestinians threw rocks at a group of Israelis, lightly injuring two, the latest in a spate of clashes involving settlers in the West Bank.
Rights groups have denounced a rise in violence committed by settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The United Nations has said that such attacks against Palestinians are taking place in a climate of "impunity".
Last week, AFP journalists witnessed clashes between dozens of Israeli settlers and Palestinians in Sinjil, where a march against settler attacks on nearby farmland had been due to take place.
Israeli authorities recently erected a high fence cutting off parts of Sinjil from Road 60, which runs through the West Bank from north to south.
Violence in the territory has surged since October 2023. Since then, Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 955 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures.
At least 36 Israelis, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official figures.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Iranian President 'was injured by Israeli strike on Tehran during 12-day war'
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured in an Israeli attack on Tehran on June 16, during the 12-day war, according to Iranian reports. The attack took place during a meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in the Iranian capital just days after the war began, reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars news agency on Sunday. Mr Pezeshkian suffered slight leg injuries, according to the report. The report said six missiles or bombs were used to block the exits of the building, where the meeting was being held, but officials managed to escape through an emergency hatch. Mr Pezeshkian was reportedly injured while escaping from the building. The speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and the head of the judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, were also said to have been in the meeting. Given the precise target of the strike, Fars said an investigation was under way to determine whether information on the meeting had been leaked to Israel. Both Iran and Israel have acknowledged that Israeli covert operations with agents on the ground had taken place. Iran has cracked down on suspected Mossad agents and affiliates, with numerous arrests and executions made since the end of the war. According to the report, the operation was modelled on the strike in which Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in the southern suburbs of Beirut last September. The exact location of the Tehran strike was not revealed in the report. In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson aired this week, Mr Pezeshkian said that Israel had tried to assassinate him but not specify whether this was during the latest war. 'They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,' he said. There was no comment from Israel. Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, leading to a brief aerial war that saw strikes both from sides. Israel's military targeted top Iranian political and military officials, as well as nuclear scientists. IRGC chief Maj Gen Hossein Salami and Iranian armed forces chief of staff Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri were among those assassinated on the first day of Israeli strikes. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country's forces had sought to kill Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but despite searching for him, the opportunity did not arise. Israeli officials and US President Donald Trump threatened Mr Khamenei several times. The US joined Israel's war and launched strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, with Mr Trump declaring the 'total obliteration' of Tehran's programme.
The National
10 hours ago
- The National
Palestinian-American man 'beaten to death' by Israeli settlers, authorities say
A Palestinian-American man was beaten to death and a second man was shot dead during a settler attack on a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, Palestinian authorities said. The ruling Fatah party said Saif Al Din Musallat, 23, was a US citizen, and condemned the attack, which it described as a 'policy of the occupying state's practice of systemic terrorism'. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the second victim as Hussein Al Shalabi, 23, and said he was shot in the chest. The Wafa news agency said 10 others were wounded in the attack. The US State Department did not comment directly on the killing of Mr Musallat. 'We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank,' a department representative told The National. 'Out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones during this difficult time, we have no further comment.' Mr Musallat's family in Tampa, Florida, issued a statement calling on the State Department to take action. 'This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes,' the family statement said. Annas Abu El Ezz, spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry, told AFP that Mr Musallat 'died after being severely beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Sinjil', about 15km north-east of Ramallah. The Florida Palestine Network mourned his loss. 'The young man was injured and remained so for four hours. The army prevented us from reaching him and did not allow us to take him away,' Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, from the nearby village of Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya, told AFP. 'When we finally managed to reach him, he was taking his last breath.' The Israeli military said clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israelis after rocks were thrown at Israeli civilians near Sinjil, lightly injuring two. It said the ensuing 'violent confrontation … included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling'. 'We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation,' the military said. Violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank has risen in recent years, with settler attacks becoming more frequent since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. Israeli killings of US citizens in the West Bank include those of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian-American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
Middle East Eye
14 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
UK: More than 80 protesters arrested at Palestine Action protests
UK police on Saturday arrested more than 60 protesters who were demanding the reversal of a ban on the pro-Palestine direct action group, Palestine Action. The government proscribed the activist group under anti-terror laws on 4 July, after the group broke into RAF Brize Norton earlier this month and spray-painted two planes that they said were 'used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East." The legislation made membership of, and support for, the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, marking the first time a direct action group has been proscribed in the UK as a terrorist group. In response, the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ) announced rallies on Saturday in several UK cities to protest the ban and Israel's war on Gaza. In a statement on X, the Metropolitan Police said it had 'made 41 arrests for showing support for a proscribed organisation'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters DOJ said 86 people had been arrested across the UK in total, with other protests held in Wales and Northern Ireland. 'Over 300 police officers have been seen carrying away dozens of people from the foot of statues of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi for alleged 'terrorism offences',' the group said in a statement on X. 'Those arrested are accused of holding signs in support of Palestine Action,' it added. On 5 July, twenty-seven people were arrested in London's Parliament Square, including an 83-year-old priest, a former government lawyer, an emeritus professor, and health workers. UN experts, human rights groups, and leading figures have condemned the ban as draconian and warned that it will have major adverse consequences for the freedom of expression, with implications for the rule of law. 'Terrorism legislation hands the authorities massive powers to arrest and detain people, suppress speech and reporting, conduct surveillance, and take other measures that would never be permitted in other circumstances,' Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's Chief Executive, said in a statement ahead of the ban. 'Using them against a direct-action protest group is an egregious abuse of what they were created for," Deshmukh said.
