Family of Tampa man killed in West Bank calls for investigation
State of play: The settlers beat to death Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian American business owner, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, according to WUSF and NPR.
Musallet's family and the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Florida chapter held a news conference Monday calling for accountability, saying Musallet was trying to protect his family's land.
The settlers blocked an ambulance from getting to Musallet, his family said in a statement, per WUSF. After they cleared, his brother rushed him to the ambulance, but Musallet died before reaching the hospital.
What they're saying: "We demand justice," family members wrote in a statement. "This is an unimaginable nightmare and an injustice that no family should ever have to face."
The State Department did not immediately return Axios' request for comment Tuesday and declined to comment to WUSF.
The other side: Israel's military said the confrontation started after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis in the area, lightly injuring two people, WUSF reported.
Zoom in: Musallet, whose family calls him Saif, grew up in Port Charlotte, where he rode out 2004's Hurricane Charley in the laundry room with his mother at just 2 weeks old, per the Tampa Bay Times.
He moved to Tampa last year to buy an ice cream shop with his cousins. Business at Ice SSSScreaming in the University area took off, and Musallet wanted to expand, said his great-uncle, Hesam Musallet, who was like a grandfather to him.
"He's not just a number," Hesam Musallet said. "He was a person. He was a name. He had loved ones."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump insists Hamas is stealing food amid Gaza hunger crisis
President Trump on Sunday said Hamas is stealing food that was meant for people in Gaza, telling reporters multiple times that goods are being stolen when pressed on the hunger crisis in the region. The president, while sitting next to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, was asked for his response to the images of starving children in Gaza. 'When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, they're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything,' the president said. He added, 'It's a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn't work out too well.' The Israeli military has reported that there is no proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid. Earlier on Sunday, Israel's military said it will start a 'tactical pause' in fighting in Gaza amid mass starvation concerns. Trump said he spoke recently with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding, 'I talked to him about a lot of things. I talked to him about Iran.' He said the U.S. would send more aid into Gaza and pressed other nations to contribute as well, suggesting that would be part of his conversation with der Leyen. And, he reiterated the claims about Hamas stealing food. 'It's not a U.S. problem, it's an international problem,' Trump said on Gaza. 'If we weren't there. I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it's not like they're eating well, but a lot of that food is getting stolen by Hamas. They're stealing the food, they're stealing a lot of things. You ship it in and they steal it, then they sell it,' he said. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also insisted that Hamas has stolen the food on NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday and noted that Yechiel Leiter, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., and other Israeli officials told him that Hamas has stolen 'a huge amount' of food since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023. Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. gave $60 million in aid for Gaza two weeks ago, but said that 'nobody even acknowledged it.' 'Nobody acknowledged it, nobody talks about it, and it makes you feel a little bad when you do that, and no other countries give anything,' he said. He said that Israel has to decide what happens next in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. 'What's going to happen? I don't know,' Trump said. 'Israel's going to have to make a decision. I know what I'd do but I don't think it's appropriate that I say.' The Trump administration last week said it was leaving Gaza ceasefire talks, blaming Hamas for failing to engage in good faith. Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy for peace missions, said the administration is considering alternative plans to secure the freedom of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the future governance of the territory.
New York Post
7 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump says ‘Israel is gonna have to make a decision' on Gaza — as he vows more aid
President Trump said that Israel is going to have to 'decide what to do' with the Gaza Strip now that ceasefire talks have collapsed and vowed to send more US aid to Palestinians in the war-torn enclave. 'When you get it down to a certain number, you're going to be able to make a deal with Hamas because once they give them up, then they feel that that's going to be the end of them,' Trump said, referring to hostage negotiations. 'They [Hamas] don't want to give [the hostages] back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision.' Trump said Israel had to 'decide what to do' with Gaza after cease-fire talks collapsed once again. AFP via Getty Images He added: 'I know what I do, but I don't think it's appropriate that I say But Israel is going to make a decision.' Speaking to reporters ahead of his talks with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during his trip to the United Kingdom, Trump also complained that the US doesn't get credit for sending aid to the Gazans. 'If we weren't there. I think people would have starved frankly,' Trump said. They would have starved and it's not like they're eating well.' President Trump vowed to send more humanitarian aid to Gaza. AFP via Getty Images 'We sent $60 million 2 weeks for food, to Gaza,' Trump bemoaned at another point. 'And nobody acknowledged it, nobody talks about it. It makes you feel a little bad when you do that, and you have other countries not giving anything.' Trump claimed that he had backlash from some of his supporters but stressed he decided to send aid to Gaza anyway because there is 'a humanitarian reason for doing it.' 'Will I do more aid, yeah,' Trump replied when asked about sending additional resources to the beleaguered Gaza Strip. 'The US is going to do more aid for Gaza but we would like to have other countries participate.' The president did not specify how much more aid the US intends to send.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Man who murdered Palestinian American 6-year-old boy dies in custody, officials say
Joseph Czuba died in Illinois Department of Corrections custody on July 24, a spokesperson for the Will County Sheriff's Office said. The Illinois landlord convicted for the murder of a Palestinian American 6-year-old boy died in custody, officials said. Joseph Czuba, 73, fatally stabbed the child, Wadee Alfayoumi, over two dozen times times days after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. Prosecutors called the killing a hate-filled attack because he and his mother, Hanaan Shaheen, were Muslim. The murder came after Czuba and Shaheen spoke about the onset of the Middle East conflict. Shaheen and Alfayoumi, a kindergartner, rented two rooms from Czuba in Plainfield, a suburb about 40 miles outside Chicago. In February, a jury found Czuba guilty of murder, hate crime and attempted murder charges for the attack. A state circuit court judge in May sentenced him to 53 years in prison. Czuba died in Illinois Department of Corrections custody on July 24, Kevin Hedemark, a spokesperson for the Will County Sheriff's Office, said in an email. Hedemark referred questions − including about the cause of Czuba's death − to state officials, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. In the days before the attack, Czuba told Shaheen to move out because of her family's faith. On Oct. 14, 2023, Czuba entered the bedroom of Alfayoumi's mother, Hanaan Shaheen, and attacked her with a military-style knife, prosecutors said. While she locked herself in the bathroom waiting for help, Czuba then attacked Alfayoumi, stabbing him 26 times. Shaheen called 911, saying Czuba was killing her baby. Will County Sheriff's deputies found Alfayoumi on a bed with multiple stab wounds to his chest and the knife protruding from his torso. Czuba also stabbed Shaheen multiple times. Alfayoumi's grandfather previously told reporters no sentence would reconcile the loss his family will forever suffer. 'It doesn't matter what the numbers are," Mahmoud Yousef said at the time. "He took a life from us. He took a future." Alfayoumi's murder took place a week after Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and 250 others were taken hostage. Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians since the start of the war, according to Hamas-run health resources. In Gaza, about a quarter of the 2.1 million people in the Palestinian territory face famine-like conditions, with thousands suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations World Food Program. Deaths from starvation among children have been chronicled by the World Health Organization and doctors. Contributing: Chris Cannon, USA TODAY; Reuters
