Trump envoy demands Israel action on killing of American

France 24

15-07-2025

Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an outspoken supporter for years of Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories, spoke out after an initial muted US official reaction to the death of Saif al-Din Abdul Karim Musalat.
"I have asked Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death," Huckabee wrote on X, using an alternative spelling.
"There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old," Huckabee wrote.
Musalat, who was born and raised in Florida and ran an ice cream parlor in Tampa, had planned to spend the summer in an area of the West Bank known for residents from the Palestinian diaspora in North America.
Israeli settlers beat him to death on Friday, according to the Palestinian health ministry, amid a surge in violence by extremists in the West Bank in parallel to the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Musalat's family said he was "protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it" and that settlers blocked an ambulance, with the young man dying before he could reach a hospital.
Trump has staunchly supported Israel and in his first term the United States walked away from the international consensus that settlements on occupied land were illegal.
Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and evangelical Christian, has previously rejected the idea of an occupation and had voiced support for settlements.
Huckabee has said that Israel has "title deed to Judea and Samaria," using a biblical term for the West Bank.
Hakeem Jeffries, the top House lawmaker from the rival Democratic Party, early Tuesday also demanded action from Israel over the death of Musalat and called for a tougher response from Trump.
"The Trump administration cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening in the West Bank if it is truly committed to finding a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people," Jeffries said in a statement.