US citizen killed in West Bank settler attack
U.S. citizen Sayafollah Musallet, 20, also known as Saif, was severely beaten in the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said. Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23 was shot in the chest.
Musallet's family, from Tampa Florida, said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.
'This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face. We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes,' the family statement said.
40 Palestinians killed in Gaza as Netanyahu, Trump meet in DC
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday it was aware of the incident, but that the department had no further comment 'out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones' of the reported victim.
The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said confrontations between Palestinians and settlers broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.
The military said forces were dispatched to the scene and used non-lethal weapons to disperse the crowds.
Settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023, according to rights groups.
Jewish population in West Bank keeps rising. Settlers hope Trump will accelerate growth
Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank.
U.S. President Donald Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israeli killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
The United Nations' highest court said last year Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.
Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The West Bank is among the territories that Palestinians seek for an independent state.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'Counterproductive incentive': Hardest-hit Gaza border towns slam gov't canceling return grant
The lawyers stated in the letter that the heads of the towns in question will petition the High Court of Justice if the government decision is not repealed. Leaders of the eleven towns hit hardest in the October 7 Hamas massacre, in a meeting labeled 'urgent' in the Knesset Economics Committee, criticized on Monday the government's decision on June 29 to cancel grants to families who return to the towns. The government's abrupt decision on June 29 stated that the 'security obstacles' preventing residents from returning had been removed, and therefore, residents were permitted to return to the area. However, contrary to prior commitments, the governments announced that families are no longer eligible to receive grants, which, based on different criteria, could reach tens of thousands of shekels. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister in the Finance Ministry Ze'ev Elkin, and Tkuma Directorate head Aviad Friedman, lawyers representing the 11 towns - Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Nahal Oz, Kissufim, Nirim, Holit, Netiv HaAsara, Re'im, Nir Yitzhak, and Sufa – wrote, 'Retroactively, and without any real discussion, the government of Israel has decided to reverse previous government decisions and explicit commitments made to residents of the 'red zone' communities—those who suffered the worst during the October 7 massacre—regarding one-time 'return home' grants.' The lawyers argued that in similar cases, such as the return of residents to northern communities in March, residents were given a grace period to return home, during which they were still eligible for the grants. In this case, the eligibility was removed without warning. The decision was thus unfair, and also harmed families who had included the grants in their economic planning. The lawyers wrote that the residents were 'stunned' by the decision. 'In an almost incomprehensible move—these are the very residents who bore, and continue to bear, the catastrophic consequences of the October 7 massacre, and who were displaced from their homes for the longest period (nearly two years)—they are the only ones denied a meaningful grant intended to help evacuees return home,' the lawyers wrote. 'The government's breach of its commitment to the red zone residents not only contradicts the prime minister's promise that 'the government of Israel is determined to mend the fracture,' but also severely undermines the trust of these residents in the state—trust that was already shattered by the events of October 7,' the lawyers wrote. 'This decision discriminates against red zone residents compared to evacuees from other communities displaced by the Iron Swords War. While evacuees in both the South and the North received return grants, residents of the red zone are the only ones excluded. Given that these communities were the hardest hit on October 7, the extreme unreasonableness of the decision is even more stark,' the lawyers wrote. 'Furthermore, the decision of June 29, 2025 directly contradicts previous government resolutions that aimed to incentivize residents to return home once security conditions allowed it. While those grants previously encouraged return and community recovery, their cancellation—alongside financial support for those delaying their return—undermines the rehabilitation of the affected communities and creates a completely counterproductive incentive,' the lawyers wrote. They also pointed to procedural flaws that they claimed made the decision illegal, claiming that the government decision was made in a 'rushed process (an expedited phone approval), without any substantive prior discussion n; without any factual basis laid out to justify deviation from previous government decisions; without any preparatory staff work followed by conclusions that might have supported the decision; without the position of the red zone residents being heard; without any relevant considerations being taken into account; without the decision being properly reasoned, based on substantive and weighty arguments; and contrary to the government's obligation to consider the T'kuma region as a national priority area that requires rehabilitation, in accordance with the Broad Rehabilitation Law for the T'kuma Region.' The lawyers stated in the letter that the heads of the towns in question will petition the High Court of Justice if the government decision is not repealed. The Economic Committee meeting concluded with committee chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) setting a meeting with representatives of the Tkuma Directorate and the finance ministry in order to negotiate a solution and set the source of funding for it. Bitan said that he would not enable representatives of the towns to attend the meeting.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
'A miracle it ended with only minor wounds': IDF soldier wounded by accidental fire from Gaza
A bullet fired from the Gaza Strip lightly wounded an IDF soldier near the Sha'ar Hanegev Junction on Sunday. A bullet fired from Gaza hit an IDF vehicle carrying a soldier near the Sha'ar Hanegev Junction on Sunday, the IDF said. According to preliminary information provided to the regional council, the fire was likely accidental and came from IDF troops inside Gaza. The incident resulted in only a minor injury to the soldier and slight damage to the vehicle. The head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, Uri Epstein, responded sharply to the incident: 'We view this incident with great seriousness. I spoke with the division commander a few minutes ago and demanded to receive the full results of the military investigation and to know what actions will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. I stress that there is no change to the military directives in the area—but it's clear that an event like this cannot be allowed to happen again.' According to Epstein, although the wound was minor, the incident highlights the fragility of the security situation on the ground. He used the opportunity to criticize the state's decision to lift security restrictions in the area: 'The state has determined that there is no longer a security issue in returning to the border communities, but it is not here to understand the consequence of its decisions. We will not accept endangering lives in the council's territory. We call on all security officials and decision-makers to come to the area and ensure firsthand that the safety of our residents is fully protected.' It is worth noting that just two weeks ago, the Israeli government approved, based on the Defense Ministry's recommendation, the removal of security restrictions from 12 of the Gaza border communities, effective on July 1, 2025. These include Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nirim, Nir Oz, Sufa, Netiv Ha'asara, Nir Yitzhak, Kerem Shalom, Ein Hashlosha, Nahal Oz, Kissufim, and Holit. The decision enables the full return home of citizens and allows preparation for the upcoming school year within the communities themselves. At the same time, the Tekuma Authority announced that reconstruction and renovation work had been completed in Kerem Shalom, Re'im, Nirim, and Ein Hashlosha. Still, many residents and local leaders in the Gaza border communities continue to express reservations about the decision, demanding assurances that the area is truly safe for permanent return. In the meantime, the question continues to echo throughout the region: Is it really time to come home, or is the government acting too hastily in its decisions?
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Iran president was reportedly injured in Israeli strikes
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly slightly injured during one of Israel's attacks on Iran last month. Iran's state Fars news agency, close to the revolutionary guard, says that on 16 June, six bombs targeted both access and entry points of a secret underground facility in Tehran where Pezeshkian was attending an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council. The president is said to have suffered leg injuries as he and others escaped through an emergency shaft. Iran is now reported to be following leads of infiltration by Israeli agents. The Fars report has not been independently verified. Israel has not publicly commented on the report. Videos posted on social media during the 12-day war showed repeated strikes against a mountain side in north-west Tehran. Now it has emerged that the strikes on the fourth day of war targeted a secret underground facility in western Tehran where Iran's top leaders were at the time. The Fars news agency report says the Israeli strikes blocked all the six entry and exit points, and also the ventilation system. The electricity to the facility was also cut off - but Pezeshkian managed to reach safety. The Supreme National Security Council is Iran's top decision-making body after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Last week, Pezeshkian accused Israel of trying to kill him - a claim denied by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said "regime change" had not been not a goal of the war. Israel wiped out many of top IRGC and army commanders at the very start of the war. Iranian leaders admit they were taken completely by surprise, and there was a decision-making paralysis for at least the first 24 hours after the attack. Israel officials admitted that Ayatollah Khamenei was also the target - but that they had lost track of him when he was moved to a secure secret location, cut off to a great extent from the outside world. There are still many questions about how Israel had gathered critical intelligence about the whereabouts of Iran's top officials and commanders - not to mention the locations of sensitive secret facilities. On 13 June, Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military sites in Iran, saying it acted to prevent Tehran from making nuclear weapons. Iran - who retaliated with aerial attacks on Israel - denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons and says its enrichment of uranium is for peaceful purposes. On 22 June, the US's Air Force and Navy carried out air and missile strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities. US President Donald Trump later said the attack "obliterated" the facilities, even as some US intelligence agencies have taken a more cautious view. Former Mossad official details how Israel eliminated Iran's military elite Iran supreme leader in first public appearance since Israel war Your questions answered on the Israel-Iran conflict
