A spokesperson for the State Department in Washington, DC, has been questioned regarding the alleged murder of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen by an Israeli settler that the US government had previously approved.
State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce slammed when asked if Yinon Levi, the suspect in the death of Hathaleen, would be held accountable at a news briefing on Tuesday.
According to Bruce, “Israel has investigations that it’s implementing regarding situations of this kind.” I won’t comment or speculate on what will happen, nor do I know what the outcome will be.
One day after video that showed Levi firing on Hathaleen in the occupied West Bank surfaced, Bruce had a heated exchange with reporters in the village of Umm al-Kheir.
Later, the Palestinian activist, 31, died from a gunshot wound to his chest.
Levi is one of several Israeli settlers in the West Bank who was previously imprisoned for attacking Palestinians under the former US President Joe Biden.
However, shortly after taking office for a second term in January, President Donald Trump reversed those restrictions in an executive order. However, Levi is still subject to sanctions from the UK and the European Union.
Hathaleen, a resident of Masafer Yatta, was the director of the Academy Award-winning documentary No Other Land, which explored the effects of Israeli settlements, which are against international law, and Palestinian attacks in the West Bank.
Bruce made an appearance that Hathaleen’s shooting took place in the “war zone” of Gaza in Tuesday’s news briefing before being corroborated.
She continued, saying that wherever violence took place, the Trump administration made an effort to stop it.
“It’s the same argument,” the statement read. In the West Bank, we can see this. We are generally aware of when there is violence. We also witnessed a shooting in New York City yesterday, she said, making no mention of an unrelated shooting in a Manhattan skyscraper.
According to an Al Jazeera request, the State Department did not respond to the State Department’s request to know whether the Trump administration would change its sanctions strategy in light of the killing.
Levi was put on house arrest after being charged with manslaughter and using an illegal firearm, according to Israeli media on Tuesday.
Trump and illegal settlements
Hathaleen was a father of three who worked closely with a number of powerful advocacy and lobbying organizations in the US before passing, raising questions about Trump’s policies toward illegal Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank.
Trump overturned a long-standing rule that declared settlements to be unlawful during his first term. These settlements are prohibited by international law and are frequently used as a means of evicting Palestinians and seizing their land.
However, Israeli settlement growth has remained rapid in recent years, posing a major obstacle to upcoming peace agreements with Palestinian leaders.
Trump removed numerous executive orders from the administration, including those imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers, earlier this year. Apparently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was under pressure to make the move.
Despite being criticized for continuing to aid Israel in the wake of its conflict in Gaza during his term, Biden’s administration showed a willingness to take a tougher stance when it came to settling in the occupied West Bank.
According to Biden’s executive order, which was dated February 2024, “the situation in the West Bank has reached intolerable levels,” in particular, high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction.
Israel’s actions in the West Bank “present a serious threat to the stability, security, and stability of the West Bank, Gaza, Israel, and the Middle East as a whole,” the statement continued.
Since Israel’s war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, with at least 1, 000 Palestinians killed in the West Bank, violence has risen among Israeli settlers and military forces.
According to rights advocates, the military frequently protects armed settlers who attack Palestinians.
US citizens have been killed, most recently Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old Florida resident who was shot to death while visiting his family’s property in the Sinjil village.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a vocal supporter of Israeli settlements, called on Israel to “aggressively investigate” what he termed an “criminal and terrorist act” in a rare statement condemning Musallet’s killing.
No one has been detained or charged with the murder to date.
Following Monday’s attack, a left-leaning pro-Israel lobbying group called on US lawmakers to support legislation that would codify the Biden-era sanctions against settlers like Levi in a statement following the attack.
The group described Hathaleen as having “deep, personal ties” and that its members were “heartbroken and horrified” by his death.
Delia Ramirez, a member of Congress, wrote in a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday that Hathaleen’s killing “a painful reminder that our government and Israel continue to support and condone violence in the West Bank.”
