A 20-year-old Palestinian-American, Sayfollah “Saif” Musallet, was tragically killed by Israeli settlers while visiting relatives in the occupied West Bank, according to his family. Musallet was reportedly beaten by a group of Israeli settlers on his family’s farm located near Ramallah. Disturbingly, the family claims that a group of settlers obstructed ambulances from reaching him for three hours, leading to his death from injuries before he could reach a hospital.
“I was the first one to reach Saif,” recounted Mohammed Nael Hijaz, a 22-year-old friend of Musallet. “He was not moving when I got there and he could barely breathe. There was time to save him.” This heartbreaking incident highlights the escalating violence that Palestinians face in the region.
In addition to Musallet, another Palestinian man, 23-year-old Razek Hussein al-Shalabi, was fatally shot during the same attack and was left to bleed to death, as reported by the Palestinian health ministry. The funeral for both Musallet and al-Shalabi is scheduled for Sunday, allowing them to be buried together.
This violence occurs amid a troubling surge in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. Since the onset of conflict following a Hamas assault in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed, and at least 9,000 have sustained injuries.
The Israeli military has claimed that stones were thrown at Israelis during the incident, stating that “a violent confrontation developed.” They acknowledged reports concerning a Palestinian civilian and stated they are investigating the matter. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US Department of State confirmed awareness of the reports regarding the death of a US citizen in the West Bank and expressed readiness to provide consular services, while refraining from further comments out of respect for the family’s privacy.
Musallet's family has publicly demanded an investigation by the US State Department into the killings, calling for accountability for the Israeli settlers responsible for their son's death. Witnesses assert that Israeli soldiers were present during the confrontation, raising further questions about the military's role in such incidents.
Since October 7, three Palestinian-American teenagers have been killed in the West Bank, yet no one has faced punishment for these tragic deaths. Musallet was a Florida native who had just opened an ice-cream shop in Tampa with his father before traveling to the West Bank in June to visit family. His friend, Hijaz, lamented, “He was a very sweet guy, full of hopes and dreams.”
In a heartfelt statement, Musallet's family described him as “a brother and a son, just starting the prime of his life. He was a kind and hard-working young man who built a successful business in Tampa and was known for his generosity and connection to his Palestinian heritage.”
The attack on Musallet occurred on a family-owned farm in Baten al-Hawa, near Jerusalem, which falls under Area B—administered by the Palestinian Authority but under Israeli military security control. Just a week prior to this incident, settlers had violently attacked two journalists working for DW, a German broadcaster, in the same area, prompting condemnation from the German ambassador to Israel. The Israeli military stated they would investigate this prior incident as well.
Rights groups have accused the Israeli military of either standing by or assisting settlers during raids on Palestinian villages, where property is vandalized, and residents are attacked. Arrests of settlers for such violence are rare. Just two weeks earlier, over 100 settlers reportedly rampaged through the village of Kafr Malek, near Ramallah, resulting in the deaths of three men and injuring several others.
During the funeral of Abraham Azulay, an Israeli Defense Forces soldier killed in southern Gaza, mourners expressed desires for revenge against Palestinians, highlighting the ongoing cycle of violence. The Biden administration had previously imposed sanctions on certain figures within the settler community in an effort to curb violence, but these sanctions were lifted by Donald Trump after he took office.
