The administration of United States President Donald Trump has called on Israel to probe the killing of 20-year-old American citizen Sayfollah Musallet, who was beaten to death by settlers in the occupied West Bank, calling the incident a “terrorist act”.
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said on Tuesday that he asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” the killing of the Florida-born Musallet, who was visiting family when he was attacked in the Palestinian town of Sinjil.
“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote in a social media post. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”
The US envoy’s statement stops short of backing the Musallet family’s demand for Washington to launch its own probe into the killing.
Critics say Israel rarely holds its settlers or soldiers accountable for abuses against Palestinians. Musllet was the ninth US citizen to be killed by Israel since 2022. None of the previous cases has led to criminal charges.
Yet, the strongly worded post marks a rare critical stance towards Israel by Huckabee, a staunch Israel supporter, who has previously said, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Another Palestinian, identified by health officials as Mohammed Shalabi, was shot dead by settlers during the same attack that killed Musallet on Friday.
Israeli settlers have been intensifying their assaults on Palestinian communities in the West Bank since the outbreak of the war on Gaza in 2023.
Often protected by the Israeli military, settlers regularly descend from their illegal settlements onto Palestinian towns, where they ransack homes, cars and farms and attack anyone who may stand in their way.
Several Western countries, including top allies of Israel, have imposed sanctions on far-right Israeli officials and groups over settler violence.
Trump lifted sanctions related to settler attacks, put in place by his predecessor, Joe Biden, after returning to the White House earlier this year.
The US provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid annually.
Over the past few days, several Congress members have called for accountability for Musallet.
Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, called the killing of Musallet “shocking and appalling”.
“The Israeli government must thoroughly investigate this killing and hold any and all settlers responsible for the brutal death of Mr Musallet accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he said in a statement.
Congressman Maxwell Frost, who represents a district in Florida, also decried the “cold-blooded murder”.
“As our country’s self-proclaimed peacemaker, Donald Trump has a moral and constitutional obligation to direct the State Department to conduct a thorough investigation and, more importantly, to demand full justice and accountability for those responsible for this heinous act,” Frost said in a statement.
“Our country must ensure the protection and safety of Americans abroad.”
On Friday, Israel said it was “investigating” what happened in Sinjil, claiming that the violence started when Palestinians threw rocks at an Israeli vehicle.
“Shortly thereafter, violent clashes developed in the area between Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included the destruction of Palestinian property, arson, physical confrontations, and stone-throwing,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
But Musallet’s family has disputed any account of “clashes”, saying that a “mob” of settlers surrounded the young Palestinian American for three hours during the attack and prevented medics from reaching him.
Florida’s Republican politicians have been largely silent about the killing of Musallet. The offices of the state’s two senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Since Musallet was killed on Friday, Scott has shared several social media posts in support of Israel.
On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on Moody, Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Congresswoman Laurel Lee, who represented Musallet, to condemn the killing of the US citizen.
The advocacy group said the officials’ silence is “complicity”, not neutrality.
“When American citizens like Saif are killed overseas, especially by Israeli settlers backed by the Israeli government, looking the other way sends a dangerous message: that some American lives simply don’t matter,” CAIR said in a social media post. “We demand better.”
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