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."
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