US citizen beaten to death in West Bank as Israeli settler violence escalates
US citizen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after reports emerged of Israeli settlers fatally beating a Palestinian-American.
Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing the local health ministry, said Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Musallat, aged in his twenties, died after he was beaten by Israeli settlers on Friday evening in an attack that also injured many people in a town north of Ramallah.
Relatives of Musallat, 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,' the State Department said, adding the department had no further comment 'out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones' of the reported victim.
Part of a fence set by the Israeli authorities in Sinjil, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters
The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said rocks were hurled at Israelis near Sinjil and that 'a violent confrontation developed in the area'.
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