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A group of US lawmakers has called on the Trump administration to launch an independent investigation into the death of Saifullah Kamel Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian American allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Some shit you should know before you read: Back in early July, 20-year-old Saifullah Kamel Musallet, a Palestinian American from Florida, was killed during a violent incident near the West Bank town of Sinjil, just north of Ramallah. Musallet was reportedly attacked by a group of Israeli settlers while trying to protect his family’s land. According to his family, settlers surrounded him for over three hours, preventing emergency medical personnel from reaching him as Israeli forces blocked access. Eventually, his younger brother carried him to an ambulance after the crowd dispersed, but Musallet died before arriving at the hospital. The Palestinian Health Ministry stated he was beaten to death, while eyewitnesses confirmed he suffered prolonged delays in receiving medical care. In response, Israeli officials have launched a joint investigation but deny that Musallet’s death was caused by blunt-force trauma, claiming the violence began with Palestinians throwing rocks.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, a coalition of 28 Democratic senators, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, is demanding an independent US investigation into the death of Saifullah Kamel Musallet. In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, the lawmakers condemned what they described as a troubling pattern of impunity for violence against American citizens in the West Bank. “Saifullah Kamal Musallet is the seventh American citizen killed in the West Bank since January 2022 — and the fifth in just the last nineteen months,” the senators wrote. “The killings of these Americans in the West Bank have been met by a lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government and an inability to secure justice by the US government.”
The senators argued that repeated US inaction has contributed to what they called “an unacceptable culture of impunity.” They added, “These failures have contributed to an unacceptable culture of impunity when it comes to incidents where civilians have been killed in the West Bank, including Americans.”
This all comes as US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee acknowledged the seriousness of Musallet’s death, calling it a “criminal and terrorist act.” In a public statement, Huckabee said, “There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old.” While he urged Israeli authorities to “aggressively investigate the murder,” Huckabee stopped short of committing the US to launch its own investigation.
