CNN
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Israeli settlers have killed a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man on the West Bank as settler violence against Palestinians is rising in occupied territory.
Sayfollah Musallet, 20, “has been marched after being badly beaten all over his body by settlers in the town of Singil north of Ramallah,” the health ministry said in a statement Friday.
The city of Singer said Musalou died after a “wild attack” carried out by settlers as part of a “daily attack” on local residents. It alleged that Israeli forces attacked the area at the same time as the settlers attacked, obstructing the work of paramedics and volunteers.
A family friend of the deceased man added to CNN that he was with Musalou and took him to the hospital in Lamara, adding that the young man was an American citizen born in Tampa, Florida.
The Israeli military said “we know of reports on many Palestinian civilians and injured Palestinians as a result of the conflict, and they are attracting attention from Isa (Israel security agencies) and Israeli police.”
Musallet’s family is calling for the US State Department to lead an investigation into the case.
“We were devastated by our beloved Seyphora Musallet (known as Saif) brutally beaten by an Israeli settler, and he was devastatingly defending his family’s land from the settlers who were trying to steal it,” the family said in a statement.
“We demand justice.”
In a statement to CNN, the US State Department said it was aware of reports of American deaths on the West Bank without providing names.
“We respect the privacy of our families and loved ones during these difficult times and have no further comments,” a department spokesperson said.
Musallet runs the business in Tampa and has been on the West Bank since June 4th to visit family and friends, a family statement said.
The Palestinian health ministry said a second Palestinian was killed in the attack in Singel, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. He added that 10 other people were injured in the same attack.
In a social media post Friday, the municipality said settlers also attacked the ambulance while paramedics worked near Singel.
The video accompanying the post CNN geolocated in the outskirts of Singel allows you to see the ambulance on a broken windshield and a rear window.
CNN contacted Israeli military and police about the incident.
The West Bank ambulance attacked by settlers on Friday was reported by Sinjel Municipality.
Following the attack, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized what was called Israel’s growing reconciliation project in the occupied territories and called for urgent action to hold perpetrators of settler violence accountable.
Israel recently expanded its military operations in the West Bank, ousting tens of thousands of Palestinians, and destroying the entire community as it targets what it says is extremists operating on its territory.
Several American citizens have been killed in the West Bank over the past few years, according to Palestinian officials and witnesses.
Israeli soldiers also shot and killed a 26-year-old woman in September 2024 during a protest against Israeli settlement.
CNN’s Ibrahim Derman, Anoa Abeka Mensa and Eve Brennan contributed to this report.
