Saifullah Kamel Musallet, a Palestinian-American from Tampa, was killed in a confrontation with Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Courtesy from the Musallet Family

The relatives of American Saifullah Kamel Musallet told CBS News on Saturday that the 20-year-old man from Tampa was beaten to death Friday by settlers in the Israel-occupied West Bank, where he was visiting family.

Musallet was meant to be headed back to Florida this week, his relatives said. He was killed in a confrontation with settlers while protecting his family's land in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to his family and the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Settlers allegedly surrounded Musallet for more than three hours, blocking an ambulance and paramedics from reaching him, according to a statement from the family. His younger brother carried him to an ambulance after the mob cleared, but Musallet died before reaching the hospital, the statement said.

Mohammed Saber Zaben, the head of the local municipality of al Sharqiya, told CBS News on Friday that the majority of the landowners in his region are Palestinian-Americans who hold U.S. citizenship and that some have been physically attacked and had their property destroyed amid ongoing tensions between settlers and residents. He said the settlers have prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their lands as part of a plan to establish an illegal outpost on the privately owned lands. Under international law, the areas are known as A and B within the Occupied West Bank.

"He worked at his family's ice cream shop in Tampa and was loved by so many people there. He was always kind and compassionate," said Musallet's cousin Fatmah Muhammad, who is a business owner in Southern California.

A second man was fatally shot in the attacks, according to the health ministry, which said the man was left bleeding for hours.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that a U.S. citizen died in the West Bank on Friday, but referred questions about any investigation into the incident to Israel's government. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem asked Israeli authorities for further details and is providing consular assistance to the family, according to an embassy spokesperson.

"We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation, and they are being looked into by the ISA and Israel Police," a statement on Friday from the Israel Defense Forces said.

Musallet's family, meanwhile, called for the U.S. to investigate.

"We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes," the family's statement read.

The FBI and the White House did not respond to CBS News' requests for comment.

It is not clear at this time who was among the group of settlers accused of beating Musallet to death. The State Department said it was up to the Israeli police to investigate.

In January, President Trump rescinded U.S. sanctions on far-right settler groups and extremists accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Then-President Joe Biden had instituted sanctions in 2024 on persons undermining stability in the West Bank, and the State Department instituted visa bans and put sanctions on a violent Israeli settlement and the director of a group accused of undermining stability in the West Bank

The Treasury Department also specifically sanctioned the Hilltop Youth, a violent extremist group for attacking Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, as well as a settlement organization involved with individuals accused of committing violence.

During his first term, Mr. Trump rescinded the longstanding U.S. policy that settlements are illegal, before it was restored by Biden.

Violence in the West Bank is on the rise, with Israeli settlers expanding their efforts to occupy land in the contested region. Musallet is the fifth American to be killed in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

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