WASHINGTON

Several US Democratic senators demanded an independent investigation into the recent killing of a Palestinian-American by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Senator Chris Van Hollen led 28 of his Democratic colleagues in a letter on Thursday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi calling on the administration to conduct a probe into the death of Sayfollah Musallet.

Musallet, 20, from the state of Florida, was beaten to death on July 11. His family said Israeli settlers surrounded him and prevented an ambulance and paramedics from reaching him to deliver life-saving care for three hours. He died before reaching a hospital.

"The U.S. government must conduct a credible and independent investigation into his death and hold all perpetrators accountable.

"Protecting and supporting U.S. citizens abroad is one of the foremost responsibilities of the U.S. government," the senators wrote in the letter.

The senators pointed to the repeated lack of accountability in the deaths of other American citizens killed in the West Bank since January 2022, including Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Assad, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee.

They also asked for an update on the status of any investigations into the killings of these six other Americans.

Musallet is the seventh American citizen killed in the West Bank since January 2022.

'Lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government'

"Following the Trump Administration’s sudden revocation of all U.S. sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank, the first five months of 2025 have seen the highest rate of settler attacks in years and the killing of another American. We urge you to pursue a different approach," they wrote.

The senators criticized both the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for failing to hold perpetrators accountable and the US government for not securing justice for American citizens.

"The killings of these Americans in the West Bank have been met by a lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government and an inability to secure justice by the U.S. government.

"These failures have contributed to an unacceptable culture of impunity when it comes to incidents where civilians have been killed in the West Bank, including Americans," they said.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee previously said he had asked Israel to investigate the murder, noting: "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act."

The Israeli army and illegal settlers have escalated their attacks in the occupied West Bank against Palestinians, their holy sites, and property, including in East Jerusalem, killing at least 1,006 Palestinians and injuring over 7,000.