Latest news with #WestBankviolence
CTV News
19 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
U.S. demands probe of Palestinian American's killing by Israeli settlers
Mourners cover the graves of Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, and Mohammed al-Shalabi with soil during their funeral in the West Bank village of Al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya on Sunday, July 13, 2025. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Musallet was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers and al-Shalabi was shot in the chest. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) WASHINGTON -- U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday he had asked Israel to 'aggressively investigate' the killing of a Palestinian American who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, describing it as a 'criminal and terrorist act.' The comments by Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlement construction, mark a rare and pointed public intervention by the U.S. following the death of a Palestinian American in the Israeli-occupied territory. 'I have asked (Israel) to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Musallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death,' Huckabee wrote on X, referring to a town north of Ramallah. Musallet, 20, whose full first name is Sayafollah, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening. His family, who are from Florida, say that medics failed to reach him for hours and that he died before reaching the hospital. Israel's military has said it is probing the incident. It says confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them. It says its forces used non-lethal weapons to disperse the parties. Reuters has not been able to corroborate either side's account. Settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank have risen since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023, though violence has long simmered in the territory. 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. Palestinians have also killed or injured Israeli American dual nationals in the West Bank in recent years. In March 2023, Israeli American Elan Ganeles, then 27, was shot dead in his car on a highway in the West Bank's Jordan Valley. The United Nations' highest court said last year that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible. Israel disputes this, citing security needs as well as historical and biblical ties to the land, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The West Bank is among the territories Palestinians seek for an independent state. 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. By Jasper Ward (Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Rami Ayyub, Rod Nickel and Daniel Wallis)
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Leaders of Holy Land churches condemn Israeli settler violence during a West Bank visit
TAYBEH, West Bank (AP) — Top church leaders in the Holy Land asserted Monday that Israeli authorities 'facilitate and enable' the presence of Israeli settlers who have intensified attacks in recent weeks on the only entirely Christian Palestinian village remaining in the occupied West Bank. Speaking in the village on a rare solidarity visit, Taybeh, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa denounced an incident last week when settlers set fires near the Taybeh community's church. They alleged that Israeli authorities failed to respond to emergency calls for help from the Palestinian community. In a separate statement, the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem demanded an investigation into the incident and called for the settlers to be held accountable by the Israeli authorities, 'who facilitate and enable their presence around Taybeh.' The church leaders also claimed that settlers had brought their cattle to graze on Palestinian lands in the area, set fire to several homes last month and put up a sign reading 'there is no future for you here.' Israel's military did not immediately respond to the allegations. It has previously said it takes action against outlaw settlers and that many incidents of settler violence involve stone-throwing and clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military targeting militants in large-scale operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Palestinian militants have attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank. Pizzaballa, the top Catholic cleric in the Holy Land — Israel and the Palestinian territories — said he believed the West Bank was becoming a lawless area. 'The only law (in the West Bank) is that of power, of those who have the force, not the law. We must work for the law to return to this part of the country, so anyone can appeal to the law to enforce their rights,' Pizzaballa told reporters. He and Theophilos prayed together in the church of St. George, whose religious site dates back centuries, adjacent to the area where settlers ignited the fires. The statement from the heads of churches comes as Palestinians report a surge of settler violence. On Sunday, hundreds descended on the village of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, south of Taybeh, for the funeral of two young men killed during a settler attack on Friday. The Christian community in Israel and the Palestinian territories has dwindled as a percentage of the overall population over the decades, with experts citing lower birthrates and emigration by people fleeing conflict or seeking better opportunities abroad. Christians now make up a tiny percentage of the population. ___ Associated Press senior producer Jalal Bwaitel in Ramallah contributed.
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Family of American man killed in West Bank settler attack seeks US probe into his death
The family of a US-Palestinian man who was killed in an Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank, demanded on Saturday that the US probes his death. Saif al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat was beaten to death on Friday in Sinjil, a village north of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said. Musalat, born and based in Florida, traveled to the West Bank last month to spend time with relatives, his family said in a statement issued by lawyer Diana Halum following the deadly attack. The Palestinian health ministry said a second man, Mohammed Rizq Hussein al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot during the attack and 'left to bleed for hours.' Israel's military said violence flared after Palestinians threw rocks at a group of Israelis, lightly injuring two, the latest in a spate of clashes involving settlers in the West Bank. Musalat's family said they were 'devastated' at his death, describing the 20-year-old as a 'kind, hard-working and deeply respected" man who was deeply connected to his Palestinian heritage. They said he was 'protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it.' According to the family's statement, settlers blocked an ambulance and paramedics from reaching Musalat as he lay injured, and he died before making it to hospital. His death was 'an unimaginable nightmare and in justice that no family should ever have to face,' they added. 'We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice.' The US State Department on Saturday confirmed to AFP that an American citizen had died in the West Bank and offered its 'sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones on their loss.' The department 'has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas,' a spokesperson said, referring 'questions on any investigation to the Government of Israel.' Rights groups have denounced a rise in violence committed by settlers in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. The United Nations has said that such attacks against Palestinians are taking place in a climate of 'impunity.' Last week, 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 October 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered war in the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 955 Palestinians -- many of them militants, but also scores of civilians -- according to Palestinian health ministry figures. At least 36 Israelis, including both troops and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official figures.
