Latest news with #SaifMussallet
CBS News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Palestinian American Saif Mussallet's killing in Israeli-occupied West Bank draws U.S. call for investigation
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he had "asked Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet," a Palestinian American national who was visiting family in the Israeli-occupied West Bank when "he was beaten to death." "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act," Huckabee said in a social media post. "Saif was just 20 yrs old." The family of Musallet, whose full name was Saifullah Kamel Musallet, told CBS News on Saturday that he was beaten to death on Friday by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. In a statement, they said he was killed in a confrontation with settlers while trying to protect his family's land in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, and that the settlers had surrounded him for more than three hours, blocking an ambulance and paramedics from reaching him. The family's statement said his younger brother carried him to an ambulance after the group cleared, but that Musallet died before he was able to reach the hospital. He had been due to return to his home in Tampa, Florida, this week, his relatives said. Musallet's killing comes amid an increase in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said Tuesday. "Israeli settlers and security forces have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks," Al-Kheetan said. He said that "during the first half of 2025, there have been 757 settler attacks that resulted in Palestinian casualties or property damage – a 13 per cent increase on the same period in 2024." "Israel must immediately stop these killings, harassment and home demolitions across the occupied Palestinian territory," Al-Kheetan said. "As the occupying power, Israel must take all feasible measures to ensure public order and safety in the West Bank. It is under the obligation to protect Palestinians from settler attacks and to end the unlawful use of force by its security forces. There must be thorough, independent and transparent investigations into all killings and all other alleged violations of international law. Those responsible must be held to account." The Israel Defense Forces told CBS News on Wednesday that immediately "following the incident, a joint investigation was launched by the Israel Police and the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division." The Israeli police did not immediately respond Wednesday to a CBS News request for comment on the investigation. Last week, the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on President Trump to hold Israel accountable for Mussallet's death and "put America first." "This murder is only the latest killing of an American citizen by illegal Israeli settlers or soldiers," CAIR-Florida Executive Director Imam Abdullah Jaber said in a statement. "Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians. If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration." Other U.S. citizens who have been killed in the Israel-occupied West Bank include Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who died in 2022, and activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was killed last year. Both were allegedly killed by Israeli forces, and the Israeli military has said it is investigating, but nobody has been held accountable for either of their deaths to date.
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
'Terrorist act': Ambassador to Israel condemns killing of Palestinian-American
The U.S. ambassador to Israel is asking the country to investigate the death of Palestinian-American Saif Mussallet, who was beaten by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank. "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act," Mike Huckabee wrote in a social media post. "Saif was just 20 (years) old." He was a U.S. citizen with family in Tampa, Florida. The West Bank is a largely Palestinian territory, but hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built settlements there, which a United Nations court in 2024 said was illegal. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Israel for the settlements, but the Trump administration rescinded them in January. Huckabee, who has previously denied the existence of the West Bank, referred to the location of Mussallet's death by the town, Sinjil. Musallet's family said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital. "This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face," the statement said. "We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes." Contributing: Reuters
Focus Malaysia
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Focus Malaysia
US demands probe after Palestinian American killed by Israeli settlers in West Bank
US Ambassador demands investigation after 20-year-old Palestinian American Saif Mussallet is beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Al Jazeera's Hamdah Salhut reports from Amman and she's there because the Israeli government has banned Al Jazeera, from reporting inside Israel and the Occupied West Bank. Main image:
Middle East Eye
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Huckabee accuses Israeli settlers of committing 'terrorist act' after they kill American citizen
The US ambassador to Israel, who has encouraged Israeli settlement building and supports the annexation of the West Bank, said "there must be accountability" for the murder of an American citizen by Israeli settlers on Tuesday. "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," Mick Huckabee said in a post on X. "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old." It is believed to be one of the first times Huckabee has commented on endemic settler violence in the West Bank. He did not back Mussallet's family's call for a US investigation. Israeli investigations rarely result in criminial prosecutions. Saif Mussallet was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday in the West Bank. The setttlers, with the help of the Israeli military, prevented medics from attending to him for several hours. The settlers also killed a Palestinian man, who was a friend of Mussallet.
Politico
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Huckabee calls for investigation after Palestinian American killed in the West Bank
The U.S. ambassador to Israel has long been a staunch supporter of the country. 'I have asked @Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet [sic], an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death,' U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote in a post on X Tuesday. |By Gregory Svirnovskiy 07/15/2025 04:24 PM EDT U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called on the country to probe the killing of a Palestinian American man visiting family in the West Bank. 'I have asked @Israel to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet [sic], an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death,' Huckabee wrote in a post on X Tuesday. 'There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old.' The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet, a native of Florida, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday, according to the Associated Press. But an ambulance was blocked from coming to his aid, his father said in an interview with CNN that aired this week. Musallet died before he reached the hospital.
