'Terrorist act': Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel, condemns killing of Palestinian-American
The U.S. ambassador to Israel is asking the country to investigate the death of Palestinian-American Saif Mussallet, who was beaten by Israeli settlers while visiting family in the West Bank.
"There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act," Mike Huckabee wrote in a social media post. "Saif was just 20 (years) old." He was a U.S. citizen with family in Tampa, Florida.
The West Bank is a largely Palestinian territory, but hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built settlements there, which a United Nations court in 2024 said was illegal. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Israel for the settlements, but the Trump administration rescinded them in January.
Huckabee, who has previously denied the existence of the West Bank, referred to the location of Mussallet's death by the town, Sinjil. In the past, he has referred to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.
Musallet's family said in a statement that medics tried to reach him for three hours before his brother managed to carry him to an ambulance, but that he died before reaching the hospital.
"This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face," the statement said. "We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes."
Contributing: Reuters