WASHINGTON (Reuters) -More than half of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate called on President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Saif Musallet, an American citizen beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland led 28 other Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking an investigation, adding to pressure from Washington for accountability in Musallet’s death.
The senators also noted what they called the repeated lack of accountability in the deaths of other Americans killed in the West Bank since January 2022, and asked for updates on the status of investigations into those killings.
Musallet, 20, whose full first name is Sayafollah, was severely beaten this month when he was visiting family in Sinjil. His family, who are from Florida, said medics failed to reach him for hours and he died before reaching the hospital.
Settler attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank have risen since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, though violence has long simmered in the territory.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on July 15 he had asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” Musallet’s death, describing it as a “criminal and terrorist act.”
The comments by Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlement construction, marked a rare and pointed public intervention by the U.S. following the death of a Palestinian American in the Israeli-occupied territory.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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