The recent violent incidents of Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have sparked anger and frustration towards the US as Palestinians mourned the death of two men, one of them a Palestinian American, killed by settlers, according to Reuters.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, noted that Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Musallat, aged in his 20s, died after Israeli settlers beat him to death.
Meanwhile, settlers shot Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, in the chest during a confrontation in West Bank town of Al-Mazr’a Ash-Sharqiya on Friday evening.
Call for US to Act Urgently
Crucially, most of the town’s residents maintain family ties to the US and many hold citizenship, including Musallet, who was killed weeks after flying to visit his mother in the small town, where he traveled most summers from Tampa, Florida.
“We demand the United States government do something about it … I don’t want his death to go in vain,” his father Kamel Musallet said.
Israel had also killed other American citizens such as Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
On Friday, the US State Department unveiled that it was aware of the US citizen killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after being beaten by Israeli settlers, according to Al Arabiya.
Escalating Violence in West Bank
Approximately 1 million Israeli settlers live in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in violation of international law.
Israel has recently detained numerous pro-Palestine activists with foreign nationalities north of Jericho in the occupied West Bank amid settlers’ attacks, according to Arab News.
In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel planned to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank, according to Al-Arabiya.
Katz’s remarks followed Israel’s announcement of the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
Annexing West Bank
In this context, fifteen Israeli Cabinet Ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party have recently pushed him to immediately annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lawmakers have signed a petition requesting the administration “to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which ends on July 27.
They also implied that the current moment is appropriate for the annexation thanks to strong US-Israeli relations and the recent military gains.
Related Topics:
Israel Detains Pro-Palestine Activists in West Bank amid Settler Violence
Palestinian Bedouins Flee West Bank out of Settler Violence
Likud Ministers Urge Netanyahu to Annex West Bank
