The family of a US citizen who was killed in a settler attack in the occupied West Bank is asking for President Donald Trump’s administration to launch a separate investigation into the incident.
Khamis Ayyad’s 40-year-old relative confirmed his citizenship on Friday and demanded justice in the case in the town of Silwad, north of Ramallah, on Thursday.
Ayyad, a father of five and former resident of Chicago, was the second US citizen to die in the West Bank in July. Sayfollah Musallet, 20, was fatally shot by Israeli settlers in Sinjil, a town that borders Silwad earlier that month.
The killing was described as “murder,” according to William Asfour, the operations coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)’s Chicago chapter, standing alongside Ayyad’s relatives.
According to Asfour, “We demand that the Department of Justice conduct an in-depth investigation.” “An American was killed,” Where is the “impossibility”?
Around dawn on Thursday, settlers tore up cars outside Ayyad’s home, according to Mahmoud Issa, the 40-year-old’s cousin.
Ayyad woke up to start the fire, but an Israeli army showed up and began to tear tear at him.
Ayyad died, according to the family, after exhaling the smoke and tear gas from the burning cars.
“How many more?”
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, which US officials have characterized as “terrorism,” have been on the rise for months.
Palestinian communities have been ravaged by Israeli residents who have established illegal settlements and set cars and homes on fire.
The Israeli military frequently employs settlers who are armed and can fire at will at Palestinians who attempt to stop them.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces have increased their deadly raids, home demolitions, and displacement campaigns.
A non-binding motion to annex the West Bank was approved just this past month by Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
And on Thursday, Yariv Levin and Israel Katz, two top Israeli ministers, called the current situation “a moment of opportunity” to assert “Israeli sovereignty” over the area.
In the meantime, Israel continues to brutally assault Gaza, which human rights groups claim amounts to a genocide.
Asfour, a CAIR-Chicago representative, made it clear on Friday that Ayyad’s death was not a one-off.
He claimed that Musallet was the victim of another American’s murder in the West Bank just weeks ago.
“How many more before the US takes action to protect its citizens living abroad?” Our government sends billions to finance all of this, and soldiers defend homes that are destroyed.
By the time of publication, Al Jazeera’s request for comment had been ignored by the US Department of State.
Musallet’s case hasn’t been made yet.
Musallet’s family urged a US-based investigation into his death last month.
Washington has argued that Israeli authorities are best suited to investigate their own military installations and settlers, despite calls for an investigation into Israel’s abuses of American citizens.
US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, demanded that Israel “investigate the murder of Musallet in July with aggressiveness.”
In a social media post, he wrote that “this criminal and terrorist act must be held accountable.”
There hasn’t been an arrest in the case more than 21 days after the incident. At least 10 US citizens have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers since 2022. None of the cases have led to criminal charges.
Mohammed Ibrahim is being held by Israeli forces without trial or access to his family, killing Ayyad.
Mohammed, 16, has been in jail since February, and his family claims to have been informed that he is losing weight in significant amounts and having a skin infection.
Abdelnasser Rashid, a representative for the Illinois State, claimed Ayyad’s death was a “ugly pattern of settler colonial violence” in Palestine on Friday.
He advocated for the repeal of Illinois’s state law that forbids Israeli firm boycotts.
“We need to take action,” According to Rashid, Illinois, a law prohibits businesses from boycotting Israel and forbids them from doing so.
