US-Palestinian man killed in West Bank clash with settlers

A 20-year-old Palestinian-American man has died during a violent confrontation in the West Bank, with his family accusing Israeli settlers of beating him to death and preventing medics from reaching him.

Sayfollah Musallet, known as Saif, was killed on Friday evening near the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian health ministry. He had arrived from Tampa, Florida, on 4 June “to spend time with his loved ones”, relatives said.

In a statement, Musallet’s family alleged: “Saif was brutally beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was protecting his family’s land from settlers who were attempting to steal it.”

They added: “Israeli settlers surrounded Saif for over three hours as paramedics attempted to reach him, but the mob of settlers blocked the ambulance and paramedics from providing life-saving aid. After the mob of Israeli settlers cleared, Saif’s younger brother rushed to carry his brother to the ambulance. Saif died before making it to the hospital.”

The Palestinian health ministry said Musallet died after being “severely beaten all over his body by settlers”.

A second man, 23-year-old Mohammed Rizq Hussein al-Shalabi, was also killed during the same incident, reportedly after being shot in the chest and “left to bleed for hours”, according to the ministry and official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The Israeli military said on Friday that “terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli civilians adjacent to Sinjil,” lightly injuring two people. “A violent confrontation developed in the area involving Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling.”

It confirmed that IDF soldiers, police and Border Police forces were deployed and “used riot dispersal means in response to the violent confrontation”.

The army said it was “aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation,” and that the incidents were being examined by the Shin Bet internal security service and Israel Police. Asked on Saturday about reports of a second Palestinian death, the military responded: “The situation is under review.”

According to Wafa, at least 10 other Palestinians from Sinjil and surrounding villages were injured, with settlers allegedly armed with automatic rifles.

The US State Department confirmed it was “aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank” but declined to comment further “out of respect for the privacy of the family”.

The family has called for accountability, saying: “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 incident comes amid a sharp rise in settler violence in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. According to UN figures, at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by in the West Bank since 7 October, mostly by Israeli forces but at least 13 by settlers. At least 44 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank during the same period.

Just days earlier, the US embassy in Jerusalem condemned recent settler attacks on Taybeh, a Christian-majority West Bank town where many residents hold American citizenship. Masked men reportedly torched cars and attacked homes, while a fire was set near a fifth-century church.

Israel has built more than 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, now home to around 700,000 Israelis. The international community, including the United Nations, considers them illegal under international law – a position upheld by an International Court of Justice advisory opinion last year. Israel disputes this and says the future of the territory should be resolved through negotiations.