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CBS News
3 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Funeral held for Palestinian-American killed in West Bank as Gaza ceasefire talks drag on
A funeral was held Sunday for a Palestinian-American and his friend who were killed in the Israel-occupied West Bank. Saifullah Kamel Musallet, 20, a Tampa, Florida native, was killed in a confrontation with settlers while protecting his family's land in the town of Singjil, north of Ramallah, according to his family and the Palestinian Health Ministry. His family told CBS News he was meant to be headed back to Florida this week after visiting family. Musallet's friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest, according to the health ministry. On Sunday, their bodies were carried through the streets of Al-Mazraa a- Sharqiya, a town south of where they were killed. Mourners, waving Palestinian flags, chanted "God is great." People carry the bodies of Sayfollah Kamel Musallet and Mohammad Al-Shalabi. Ammar Awad / REUTERS "He worked at his family's ice cream shop in Tampa and was loved by so many people there. He was always kind and compassionate," Musallet's cousin Fatmah Muhammad, who is a business owner in Southern California, told CBS News on Saturday. The U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed Saturday to CBS News that a U.S. citizen died in the West Bank on Friday but referred questions about any investigation into the incident to Israel's government. Musallet's family, meanwhile, said it wants the U.S. to investigate. "We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes," the family's statement read. Saifullah Kamel Musallet, a Palestinian-American from Tampa, was killed in a confrontation with Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Courtesy from the Musallet Family Israel's military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation. Violence in the West Bank is on the rise, with Israeli settlers expanding their efforts to occupy land in the contested region. Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence. Musallet is the fifth American to be killed in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023. Gaza ceasefire talks drag on Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. The indirect talks over a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire began a week ago in Doha, Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal, the Associated Press reported. Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires. In a statement Sunday, Netanyahu's office slammed Hamas for refusing to accept the framework of the most recent proposal, saying the terrorist group is "making unreasonable demands." Israeli troops deploy by Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip on July 10, 2025, amid the ongoing war with the Palestinian militant movement Hamas. JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. The 21-month war was sparked when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251. Many of those hostages have since either been released or their bodies have been recovered in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The United Nations and other international organizations see the Health Ministry's figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties. contributed to this report.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Palestinian-American beaten to death in West Bank, family says
The relatives of American Saifullah Kamel Musallet told CBS News on Saturday that the 20-year-old man from Tampa was beaten to death Friday by settlers in the Israel-occupied West Bank, where he was visiting family. Musallet was meant to be headed back to Florida this week, his relatives said. He was killed in a confrontation with settlers while protecting his family's land in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to his family and the Palestinian Health Ministry. Settlers allegedly surrounded Musallet for more than three hours, blocking an ambulance and paramedics from reaching him, according to a statement from the family. His younger brother carried him to an ambulance after the mob cleared, but Musallet died before reaching the hospital, the statement said. Mohammed Saber Zaben, the head of the local municipality of al Sharqiya, told CBS News on Friday that the majority of the landowners in his region are Palestinian-Americans who hold U.S. citizenship and that some have been physically attacked and had their property destroyed amid ongoing tensions between settlers and residents. He said the settlers have prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their lands as part of a plan to establish an illegal outpost on the privately owned lands. Under international law, the areas are known as A and B within the Occupied West Bank. "He worked at his family's ice cream shop in Tampa and was loved by so many people there. He was always kind and compassionate," said Musallet's cousin Fatmah Muhammad, who is a business owner in Southern California. A second man was fatally shot in the attacks, according to the health ministry, which said the man was left bleeding for hours. A State Department spokesperson confirmed that a U.S. citizen died in the West Bank on Friday, but referred questions about any investigation into the incident to Israel's government. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem asked Israeli authorities for further details and is providing consular assistance to the family, according to an embassy spokesperson. "We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation, and they are being looked into by the ISA and Israel Police," a statement on Friday from the Israel Defense Forces said. Musallet's family, meanwhile, called for the U.S. to investigate. "We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes," the family's statement read. The FBI declined to comment and the White House did not respond to CBS News' requests. It is not clear at this time who was among the group of settlers accused of beating Musallet to death. The State Department said it was up to the Israeli police to investigate. In January, President Trump rescinded U.S. sanctions on far-right settler groups and extremists accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Then-President Joe Biden had instituted sanctions in 2024 on persons undermining stability in the West Bank, and the State Department instituted visa bans and put sanctions on a violent Israeli settlement and the director of a group accused of undermining stability in the West Bank The Treasury Department also specifically sanctioned the Hilltop Youth, a violent extremist group for attacking Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, as well as a settlement organization involved with individuals accused of committing violence. During his first term, Mr. Trump rescinded the longstanding U.S. policy that settlements are illegal, before it was restored by Biden. Violence in the West Bank is on the rise, with Israeli settlers expanding their efforts to occupy land in the contested region. Musallet is the fifth American to be killed in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023. How a father's persistence unlocked his son's brilliance Global backlash grows to Trump's tariff threats Takeaways from Trump's tour of Texas flooding damage
