Two Palestinians killed in West Bank settler attack, health ministry says

35 minutes ago Share Save David Gritten BBC News Reporting from Jerusalem Share Save

AFP (File photo) Palestinians look on as a fire burns on a hilltop seized by Israeli settlers near Sinjil on 4 July

Two Palestinians have been killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on a town in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The Israeli military said stones were thrown at Israelis near Sinjil and that “a violent confrontation developed in the area”. It added that security forces were looking into the reports of one Palestinian being killed, and the incident involving the second was under review. There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The UN says at least 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, 13 by Israeli settlers, and another seven by either Israeli forces or settlers. At least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Sayfollah Musallet, a 23-year-old dual US citizen from Florida, was fatally beaten during the incident on Friday evening in Sinjil, the Palestinian ministry said. The second man, Mohammed al-Shalabi, also 23, died after being shot in the chest, it added. The US state department said it was “aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank”, and that it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family”.

Sayfollah Musallet, a businessman whose nickname was Saif, travelled from his home in Tampa to the West Bank on 4 June, according to his family. A statement alleged that he was “brutally beaten to death by Israeli settlers while he was protecting his family’s land from settlers who were attempting to steal it”. “Israeli settlers surrounded Saif for over three hours as paramedics attempted to reach him, but the mob of settlers blocked the ambulance and paramedics from providing life-saving aid.” “After the mob of Israeli settlers cleared, Saif’s younger brother rushed to carry his brother to the ambulance. Saif died before making it to the hospital.” The statement added: “We demand the US state department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes.” Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Mohammed al-Shalabi was from the town of al-Mazraa al-Sharqiya, just south of Sinjil. It cited the Palestinian health ministry as saying that he was shot in the chest by settlers, during the same attack in which Sayfollah Musallet was killed. He was left bleeding for hours before paramedics were able to reach him, it added. Wafa reported than another 10 Palestinians from Sinjil and neighbouring areas were injured in the clashes with settlers who were armed with automatic rifles. The Israeli military said in a statement on Friday night that “terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli civilians adjacent to Sinjil”, lightly injuring two of them. “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 military said soldiers, police and paramilitary Border Police forces were dispatched to the area and “used riot dispersal means in response to the violent confrontation”. It added that it was “aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation”, and that they were being looked into by the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police. When asked by the BBC on Saturday for a response to the reports that a second Palestinian was killed, the military said: “The situation is under review”.