Latest news with #Saifal-DinMusalat
Gulf Today
4 days ago
- Gulf Today
Israeli settlers beat 23-year-old Palestinian-American man to death in West Bank
The Palestinian health ministry said a 23-year-old man Saif al-Din Musalat was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Friday, in the latest deadly assault as violence surges in the territory. In a statement, the Israeli military said clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israelis on Friday after rocks were thrown at Israeli civilians adjacent to the village of Sinjil, lightly injuring two. It said the ensuing "violent confrontation... included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling". "We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians," it said, adding that the incidents were being looked into. A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority ministry, Annas Abu El Ezz, told AFP that 23-year-old Saif al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat "died after being severely beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, this afternoon". AFP footage from Ramallah showed his body being carried through the streets draped in a Palestinian flag and flanked by around a hundred mourners. "The young man was injured and remained so for four hours. The army prevented us from reaching him and did not allow us to take him away," said Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, from the nearby village of Al-Mazraa Al-Sharqiya. "When we finally managed to reach him, he was taking his last breath." The Israeli military said its forces, police and border police were dispatched to the scene and used "riot dispersal means" to break up the confrontation. A week earlier, AFP journalists witnessed clashes between dozens of Israeli settlers and Palestinians in Sinjil, where a march against settler attacks on nearby farmland had been due to take place. Israeli authorities recently erected a high fence cutting off parts of Sinjil from Road 60, which runs through the West Bank from north to south. Violence in the territory has surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Agencies
Middle East Eye
5 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian man beaten to death by Israeli settlers was US citizen, Arab-American group confirms
The 23-year-old Palestinian who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday has been confirmed to be a US citizen, according to the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). "Under the protection of government officials, Israeli settlers lynched a Palestinian American man from Tampa, Florida," a statement issued by the group said. "Saif al-Din Musalat (also reported as Sayfollah Musallet), born in Port Charlotte, Florida, was visiting family for the summer when he was beaten to death while protesting the construction of a new illegal Israeli outpost on village land in al‑Mazra'a ash‑Sharqiya. An ambulance was blocked from reaching him for nearly two hours," the ADC said. "This horrific murder is yet another example of Israel killing American citizens. As of the issuance of this statement, no one has been arrested, no one has been indicted, and—if the past is any guide—no one will be held accountable for the death of Saif," the statement continued. "This is not an aberration; it is part of a well‑documented pattern of impunity enjoyed by Israeli settlers and security forces who routinely attack Palestinians and Palestinian‑Americans under the protection of occupation authorities and indifference of US officials". The killing of US citizens abroad is more often than not addressed by the highest levels of the US government, including a phone call to the victim's family from the president. But now, the ADC said, when "the perpetrators are Israeli settlers or security forces, many US citizens themselves, Washington's response is silence, delay, or repeating the lies of Israeli authorities". "ADC calls on President Donald J. Trump to direct the State Department to open an immediate, American-led investigation into this heinous murder; demand that Israeli authorities arrest and prosecute the perpetrators without delay; and apply standard diplomatic protocol given to any murdered US citizen, including public condemnation of the crime, and regular briefings to Congress until justice is served," the group urged.
