U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee demanded that Israel launch an investigation into the death of Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet.
Musallet, also known as Saif, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in Sinjil on Friday.
“I have asked [Israel] to aggressively investigate the murder of Saif Mussallet, an American citizen who was visiting family in Sinjil when he was beaten to death,” Huckabee wrote on social media. “There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act. Saif was just 20 yrs old.”
The Musallets said the incident is an “unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face.” They urged the State Department to “lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes.”
Following the confrontation, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, as per i24 News, that “terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli civilians adjacent to Sinjil. As a result, two Israeli civilians were lightly injured.”
“Shortly after, a violent confrontation developed in the area involving Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling,” the IDF said, adding that it was “aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation, and they are being looked into by the ISA and Israel Police.”
The State Department said that it was aware of the matter but did not offer further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones.”
