‘Shoot their legs': Kenya's President Ruto rails against looters
Kenyan President William Ruto said anyone looting or vandalising businesses should be shot in their legs and dealt with by the courts afterwards. These were his first remarks after Monday's anti-government protests in which at least 31 people were killed.
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Al Jazeera
11 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Israeli forces bombard Gaza as Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks stall
Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza continues, a day after Israeli forces killed 110 Palestinians across the Strip, including 34 people waiting for food at the US-backed GHF site in Rafah. The family of Sayfollah Musallet, an American-Palestinian who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, is calling on the United States to launch an inquiry and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Al Jazeera
19 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Family of American citizen killed by Israeli settlers demands US probe
Washington, DC – The family of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old United States citizen from Florida who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, is calling on Washington to launch its own probe into the incident and to hold the perpetrators accountable. Musallet's family said in a statement that Israeli settlers surrounded him for three hours during the assault on Friday and attacked medics who were attempting to reach him. The slain young man, known as Saif, was a 'kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man, working to build his dreams', the family said. 'This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,' the statement 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.' Washington has previously resisted calls to investigate the killing of US citizens by Israeli forces. Instead, US officials say that Israel is capable of probing its own abuses. But Israeli investigations rarely lead to criminal charges against settlers or soldiers, despite their well-documented violations against Palestinians. The State Department said late on Friday that it 'has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas'. 'We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank. When a US citizen dies overseas, we stand ready to provide consular services,' a department spokesperson told Al Jazeera, declining to provide further details, citing the privacy of the victim's family. Israeli settlers lynched 20-year-old Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, while U.S. officials stayed silent. Sayfollah was born and raised in Florida. He was visiting family for the summer in the West Bank when settlers beat him to death while he protested illegal land… — ADC National (@adc) July 12, 2025 Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. But none of the incidents have resulted in criminal charges. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said the US 'must stop treating Palestinian American lives as expendable'. 'Israeli settlers lynched 20-year-old Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, while US officials stayed silent,' the advocacy group said in a statement. 'Sayfollah was born and raised in Florida. He was visiting family for the summer in the West Bank when settlers beat him to death while he protested illegal land seizures.' American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) questioned whether Trump will stay true to his pledge to prioritise US interests. 'Will he uphold his 'America First' promise when it's a Palestinian-American whose life was taken? Or will he once again bow his head to Israel, no matter the cost in blood?' AMP said in a statement. But the group stressed that US citizenship should not be a condition for justice. Another Palestinian was killed in the same settler attack as Musallet on Saturday. 'And let's be unequivocally clear: whether a Palestinian holds American citizenship or not, every single murder committed by this regime must be explicitly prohibited, punished, and condemned,' AMP said. The US provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. It also protects its ally diplomatically at international forums, often using its veto power to block United Nations Security Council proposals critical of Israeli abuses. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on supporters on Saturday to contact their lawmakers and call for condemnation of Musallet's killing. 'This was not an isolated incident. It was part of a long, unpunished pattern of violence against US citizens by Israeli soldiers and settlers,' the group said in a statement. Sarah Leah Whitson, the head of rights group DAWN, said the US has tools to pursue accountability in the Musallet case, noting that Washington is pursuing criminal charges against Hamas officials for the killing of US citizens during the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel. 'What is really missing [in the current case] is the political will from the United States government to protect American citizens of Palestinian origin or Americans protesting Israeli actions in the West Bank,' Whitson told Al Jazeera in a TV interview. 'What it really does is it sets a precedent of encouragement and sets a precedent for open season on Americans just as there is open season on Palestinians.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli settlers beat American to death in West Bank; US says it's aware
Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have beaten to death a United States citizen in his early 20s, the victim's family members and rights groups have said. Settlers attacked and killed Sayfollah Musallet in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, on Friday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Relatives of Musallet, who was from Tampa, Florida, were also quoted by The Washington Post as saying he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers. 'We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank,' Reuters reported a State Department spokesperson as saying. The official declined to comment further 'out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones' of the reported victim. Musallet, also known as Saif al-Din Musalat, had travelled from his home in Florida to visit family in Palestine, his cousin Fatmah Muhammad said in a social media post. Another Palestinian, identified by the Health Ministry as Mohammed Shalabi, was fatally shot by settlers during the attack. Rights advocates have documented repeated instances where Israeli settlers in the West Bank ransack Palestinian neighbourhoods and towns, burning homes and vehicles in attacks sometimes described as pogroms. The Israeli military often protects the settlers during their rampages and has shot Palestinians who show any resistance. The United Nations and other prominent human rights organisations consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank violations of international law, as part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians. While some Western countries like France and Australia have imposed sanctions on violent settlers, attacks have increased since the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. When President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, his administration revoked sanctions on settlers imposed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. But none of the incidents have resulted in criminal charges. The US provides billions of dollars to Israel every year. Advocates have accused successive US administrations of failing to protect American citizens from Israeli violence in the Middle East. On Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on Washington to ensure accountability for the killing of Musallet. 'Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians,' CAIR deputy director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. He then pointed out that Trump has repeatedly promised to prioritise American interests, as typified by his campaign slogan 'America First'. 'If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration,' Mitchell said. The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) also called for action from the US administration, noting that settlers are 'lynching Palestinians more frequently – with full support from Israel's army and government'. 'The US government has a legal and moral obligation to stop Israel's racist violence against Palestinians. Instead, it's still backing and funding it,' the group said in a statement. The US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment about the killing of Musallet. The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the murder of Musallet, describing it as 'barbaric', and called on Palestinians across the West Bank to rise up to 'confront the settlers and their terrorist attacks'. Israel said it was 'investigating' what happened in Sinjil, claiming that the violence started when Palestinians threw rocks at an Israeli vehicle. 'Shortly thereafter, violent clashes developed in the area between Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included the destruction of Palestinian property, arson, physical confrontations, and stone-throwing,' the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli investigations often lead to no charges or meaningful accountability for the abuses of Israeli officers and settlers. As settler and military violence intensifies in the West Bank, Israel has killed at least 57,762 Palestinians in Gaza in a campaign that rights groups have described as a genocide.
