Trump Admin Urges Israel to Probe Murder of American Citizen by Settlers in West Bank

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Israel to investigate the killing of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old American citizen who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, describing the incident as a “terrorist act.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday that he had urged Israeli authorities to “aggressively investigate” the killing of Musallet, a Florida-born American who was visiting family in the Palestinian town of Sinjil when the attack took place.

“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee posted on social media. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”

Huckabee’s comments mark a rare moment of public criticism from the Trump-appointed ambassador, who has previously drawn backlash for controversial pro-Israel statements, including once saying, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”

Still, the administration’s response stopped short of meeting the Musallet family’s demand for an independent U.S. investigation into the killing.

Since 2022, Israel has killed at least nine U.S. citizens in incidents linked to the Israeli military or settlers. None of those cases have resulted in criminal charges. Critics say Israel routinely fails to hold settlers or security forces accountable when Palestinians—or Palestinian-Americans—are killed.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project was quick to weigh in, saying Israel should not be trusted to investigate “the extremist settlers it enables at every turn.” The group again called for the U.S. to conduct its own probe.

During the same attack on Friday, another Palestinian man, Mohammed Shalabi, was also shot dead by settlers, according to Palestinian health officials.

With input from Al Jazeera