Latest news with #AlMazraaAshSharqiya
Irish Times
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
‘This is an unimaginable nightmare': Residents gather to mourn Palestinian-American and friend killed in Israeli-occupied West Bank
Palestinian flags covered their bodies and their heads were wrapped with keffiyehs as the two young men were lifted through the crowd. Hundreds of residents of Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, in the occupied West Bank , gathered on Sunday to mourn two of their own. American citizen Sayfollah Musallet (20) and Palestinian Mohammed Hussein Al-Shalabi (23) died last Friday – one was beaten to death by Israeli settlers, the other shot, their families and witnesses say. The men were killed after they went to agricultural land owned by local residents beside the nearby town of Sinjil. This has become a common Friday tradition, as Israeli settlers increasingly try to seize territory in this area – around 19km northeast of the city of Ramallah – and Palestinians attempt to defend it. The deaths happened three months after Israeli soldiers shot and killed 14-year-old American citizen Amer Rabee, in Turmus Aya, a town less than 5km away. READ MORE Musallet was born and living in Florida , where he worked at his family's Tampa ice-cream shop. He travelled to the West Bank on June 4th, his family said. Reading a family statement, his cousin Diana said Musallet was surrounded by settlers for more than three hours as paramedics tried to reach him, meaning they were unable to give him life-saving medical assistance. 'Saif was a brother and a son ... a kind, hard-working and deeply successful young man,' she said. 'This is an unimaginable nightmare and an injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. Saif is not just a number. He is the kid that brings light in every room he walks into. We won't let him be forgotten.' [ 'Hanging on by a thread': Two days with activists protecting Palestinians from being forced off their land Opens in new window ] A US embassy spokesperson confirmed the death, telling The Irish Times: 'We offer our condolences to the family and are providing consular assistance. We have asked Israeli authorities for further details.' A state department spokesperson added that they have 'no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas', while referring questions about an investigation to the Israeli government. Men carry the bodies of American citizen Sayfollah Musallet (20) and Palestinian Mohammed Hussein Al-Shalabi (23), both killed during settler violence last Friday. Photograph: Sally Hayden Relatives of Mohammed Hussein Al-Shalabi (23) gather to mourn together the day after his death. Photograph: Sally Hayden Land near where settlers have been attacking in Sinjil, the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden A poster remembering American citizen Sayfollah Musallet (20) seen during his funeral on Sunday. Photograph: Sally Hayden Men pray at the funeral for American citizen Sayfollah Musallet (20) and Palestinian Mohammed Hussein Al-Shalabi (23), in Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Sally Hayden An Israeli military spokesperson said a joint investigation had been opened by the Israeli police and the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, and they could not share further details because the case is 'ongoing.' The military previously accused 'terrorists' of 'hurl[ing] rocks at Israeli civilians', saying a 'violent confrontation' later developed 'which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling'. A witness to Friday's violence said the settlers came 'like a gang' and 'made a trap', arriving while Palestinians were 'up in the farms' and using a vehicle to block the exit road. He suggested one of the reasons the settlers want to control the land is that it contains dozens of farms and water wells. Many American-Palestinians, like Musallet, regularly return to the area their family originally comes from and maintains a base in, even if they find full-time existence here unsustainable. 'We have to go to America to work,' explained one of Musallet's relatives. As a Palestinian living in the occupied West Bank, Shalabi faced restricted movement under occupation. Like many others there – who say Israel's stranglehold on the Palestinian economy hugely restricts employment opportunities – Shalabi was unable to find steady work and did whatever daily jobs he could find, said his uncle Samer Shalabi (55). Still, his uncle called Shalabi a 'happy kid' who would do 'things for the family to make their life easier'. [ Sanctions against individual settlers are hopelessly inadequate. The real settler organisation is Israel Opens in new window ] The day after his death, dozens of women sat in Shalabi's home, red-eyed and in shock. In the middle was his mother, Jumana Shalabi. She described the hours, on Friday, after she heard there were clashes and someone had died. 'My heart was worried,' she said. Because the military blocked the roads, witnesses said, friends and relatives were not able to search for Shalabi until late on Friday night, when they discovered his body. His mother believed he could have survived if he received medical attention sooner. 'He is the warmest son, warm with everybody. All the people in the neighbourhood, they loved him,' she said, crying again. Israeli human rights organisation B'tselem has documented at least 40 attacks by settlers in Sinjil over the last five years, including them setting fire to vehicles and homes in January this year, and last year cutting down olive trees, vandalising cars, stealing water tanks and chasing harvesters off their land with a drone. In 2022, settlement watchdog Kerem Navot wrote : 'It's clear that the settlers ... have their eyes on the land of the village of Sinjil,' saying an area of around 1,200 acres had been 'marked as a target for takeover decades ago'. As the settlers advanced, residents of Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya and Sinjil issued calls to journalists. On July 4th, they invited The Irish Times to a 'civil peaceful demonstration and protest', saying, 'We can't access our lands due to the settlers' violent act[s] toward us. We have farms, homes and property and lands that we cannot attend to due to Israeli settlers blocking the roads, shooting at us, and throwing rocks on our vehicles.' Diana, a cousin of Sayfollah Musallet, reads a family statement the day after his death. Photograph: Sally Hayden A civil defence volunteer used his vehicle to transport wounded people following Friday's violence. Photograph: Sally Hayden Blood stains were still visible in a vehicle used to transport injured people the day after Friday's violence. Photograph: Sally Hayden One week later, the two young men were killed. Residents said more people were injured, with one civil defence volunteer showing The Irish Times streaked blood inside the vehicle he said he used to transport wounded people before the roads were blocked. At least 1,161 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the beginning of 2023, according to the UN, including at least 22 women and 236 children. The vast majority – 884 – were killed by live ammunition, the UN says. Over the same period, at least 59 Israelis were killed in the West Bank, including nine women and nine children. Musallet's friend from the US, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Juma, said they were part of a 'bunch of guys in Tampa who used to hang out every day ... We used to go to his house just to chill. We used to go to the pool, we used to go to the range, we used to go fishing together'. Juma – whose family is originally from the same area – called Musallet 'the best of us ... He never drank, he never did any drugs. This kid was just the best human being you'll ever meet in your life'. [ Three Palestinians killed by Israeli army during raid by settlers Opens in new window ] The 23-year-old said he finds being an American citizen 'very difficult' now. 'The country I live in supports the killing of my people. It's hard ... You see what's happening in Gaza. I hope something changes ... You can see this new generation that's coming up. They're becoming more aware of what's going on around the world ... They're seeing what they're seeing.' 'What happened is something that is not acceptable, not easy to deal with,' said Shalabi's uncle, Samer. 'Two kids who were killed in a very cold blood ... If you look at the eyes of the people you find the anger and sadness.' He said locals are terrified now, 'but even with that, they will never leave here ... It's our country. We're going to stay here. There's no other place for us'.
Arab News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Father of American man slain by Israeli settlers tells Arab News US officials do not care
CHICAGO: Kamel Musallet, the father of a 20-year-old American citizen slain by Israeli settlers on Friday, told Arab News that US officials should treat his son's killing 'the same way they'd treat the murder of any American in any country.' Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death by settlers on land the family owns outside the Palestinian village of Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharqiya in the occupied West Bank. The family are American citizens of Palestinian heritage who have lived in Port Charlotte, Florida, most of their lives. Sayfollah Musallet, who was born and raised in Florida, went to see family in Al-Mazra'a Ash-Sharqiya when he was confronted by 'gangs of settlers' on their nearby land. Kamel Musallet said he has only received condolences from 'someone' at the US Embassy in Jerusalem, but not from any American officials in the US. 'Where is the concern? My son is an American,' he added, describing him as 'a kind person, a good person.' He said Israeli soldiers prevented family and friends from reaching his son, and medical personnel from treating him. 'He was there, injured, dying, for nearly three hours … The settlers killed him and nothing has been done,' he added. 'Settlers have been going to Palestinian-owned lands randomly attacking any Palestinians they see, trying to steal these lands. 'They're trying to put tents up on these lands to create new settlements, destroying olive trees and killing farm animals … We've asked for protection but have gotten nothing … They've been doing this for years.' He added: 'My whole family is American. Who is speaking up in America for our rights, our lives? Where is the outcry from America for an American? We need justice now.' He said his son had been running an ice cream store that the family opened a year before in Tampa, Florida. 'Sayfollah was such a kind soul, a hard worker. I'm an entrepreneur, so he wanted to be like me … He left a positive impression on everyone he met.'
Arab News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Anger turns toward Washington in West Bank town mourning two men killed by settlers
AL-MAZRA'A ASH-SHARQIYA, West Bank: Frustration among Palestinians grew toward the United States on Sunday as mourners packed the roads to a cemetery in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya for the burial of two men, one of them a Palestinian American, killed by settlers. Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said Sayfollah Musallet, 21, was beaten to death, and Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, was shot in the chest by settlers during a confrontation on Friday night. Most of the small town's roughly 3,000 residents share family ties to the United States and many hold citizenship, including Musallet, who was killed weeks after flying to visit his mother in Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya, where he traveled most summers from Tampa, Florida. 'There's no accountability,' said his father Kamel Musallet, who flew from the United States to bury his son. 'We demand the United States government do something about it ... I don't want his death to go in vain.' Israeli killings of US citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday it was aware of the latest death, but that the department had no further comment 'out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones' of the victim. Many family and community members said they expected more, including that the United States would spearhead an investigation into who was responsible. A US State Department spokesperson on Sunday referred questions on an investigation to the Israeli government and said it 'has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas.' The Israeli military had earlier said Israel was probing the incident. It said confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them. 'Betrayal' Musallet's family said medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but he died before reaching the hospital. Local resident Domi, 18, who has lived in Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya for the last four years after moving back from the United States, said fears had spread in the community since Friday and his parents had discussed sending him to the United States. 'If people have sons like this they are going to want to send them back to America because it's just not safe for them,' he said. He had mixed feelings about returning, saying he wanted to stay near his family's land, which they had farmed for generations, and that Washington should do more to protect Palestinians in the West Bank. 'It's a kind of betrayal,' he said. Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups. Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank. Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. US President Donald Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Malik, 18, who used to visit Musallet's ice-cream shop in Tampa and had returned to the West Bank for a few months' vacation, said his friend's death had made him question his sense of belonging. 'I was born and raised in America, I only come here two months of a 12-month year, if I die like that nobody's going to be charged for my murder,' he said, standing in the cemetery shortly before his friend was buried. 'No one's going to be held accountable.'
Reuters
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Anger turns towards Washington in West Bank town mourning two men killed by settlers
AL-MAZRA'A ASH-SHARQIYA, West Bank, July 13 (Reuters) - Frustration among Palestinians grew towards the United States on Sunday as mourners packed the roads to a cemetery in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya for the burial of two men, one of them a Palestinian American, killed by settlers. Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said Sayfollah Musallet, 21, was beaten to death, and Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, was shot in the chest by settlers during a confrontation on Friday night. Most of the small town's roughly 3,000 residents share family ties to the United States and many hold citizenship, including Musallet, who was killed weeks after flying to visit his mother in Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya, where he travelled most summers from Tampa, Florida. "There's no accountability," said his father Kamel Musallet, who flew from the United States to bury his son. "We demand the United States government do something about it ... I don't want his death to go in vain." Israeli killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday it was aware of the latest death, but that the department had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones" of the victim. Many family and community members said they expected more, including that the United States would spearhead an investigation into who was responsible. A U.S. State Department spokesperson on Sunday referred questions on an investigation to the Israeli government and said it "has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas." The Israeli military had earlier said Israel was probing the incident. It said confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them. Musallet's family said medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but he died before reaching the hospital. Local resident Domi, 18, who has lived in Al-Mazr'a Ash-Sharqiya for the last four years after moving back from the United States, said fears had spread in the community since Friday and his parents had discussed sending him to the United States. "If people have sons like this they are going to want to send them back to America because it's just not safe for them," he said. He had mixed feelings about returning, saying he wanted to stay near his family's land, which they had farmed for generations, and that Washington should do more to protect Palestinians in the West Bank. "It's a kind of betrayal," he said. Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups. Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank. Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. U.S. President Donald Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Malik, 18, who used to visit Musallet's ice-cream shop in Tampa and had returned to the West Bank for a few months' vacation, said his friend's death had made him question his sense of belonging. "I was born and raised in America, I only come here two months of a 12-month year, if I die like that nobody's going to be charged for my murder," he said, standing in the cemetery shortly before his friend was buried. "No one's going to be held accountable."
