Tel Aviv, Israel (BN24) – Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have beaten an American citizen to death, according to the victim’s relatives, Palestinian authorities, and human rights groups monitoring the region.
The young man, identified as Seif al-Din Muslat, was in his early 20s and had traveled from Tampa, Florida, to visit family in the Palestinian town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed on Friday that Muslat was killed when settlers attacked the area.
“We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank,” a spokesperson for the US State Department told Reuters. The official declined to provide additional details, citing respect for the privacy of the family.
Muslat’s cousin, Fatmah Muhammad, wrote on social media that he had made the trip from Florida to reconnect with relatives in Palestine. The Washington Post also quoted members of Muslat’s family saying he died after being severely beaten by Israeli settlers.
Another Palestinian man, Mohammed Shalabi, was shot and killed during the same assault, the Health Ministry reported.
Rights advocates have long documented a pattern of settler violence across the West Bank, where armed settlers have ransacked towns, torched homes and vehicles, and attacked residents. The United Nations and major human rights organizations have described these attacks as systematic efforts to displace Palestinians from their land.
While some Western governments, including France and Australia, have imposed sanctions on violent settlers, the number of attacks has escalated further since Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in October 2023.
Under President Donald Trump, who returned to office this year, the United States lifted sanctions on settlers that had been imposed by the Biden administration.
Since 2022, Israeli forces have killed at least nine American citizens, among them veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, without any prosecutions resulting from the incidents.
The killing has renewed criticism of US policy toward Israel. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on the Trump administration to ensure accountability for Muslat’s death.
“Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s deputy director.
He added that President Trump’s inaction contradicted his “America First” campaign slogan.
“If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration,” Mitchell said.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) also condemned the killing, pointing out that settlers have been “lynching Palestinians more frequently – with full support from Israel’s army and government.”
“The US government has a legal and moral obligation to stop Israel’s racist violence against Palestinians. Instead, it’s still backing and funding it,” the group said in a statement.
The Palestinian faction Hamas issued its own condemnation, describing the killing as “barbaric” and urging Palestinians across the West Bank to resist what it called “terrorist attacks” by settlers.
In response to the incident, Israeli authorities said they were “investigating” what occurred in Sinjil and claimed the violence began after Palestinians threw stones 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.
Human rights monitors note that such investigations rarely result in charges or meaningful accountability for abuses by settlers or Israeli forces.
The fatal assault comes amid intensifying violence across the occupied territories. Since last fall, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 57,762 Palestinians, in what rights organizations have described as a genocide.
