Settler attacks across the occupied West Bank have increased since the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza [MOSAB SHAWER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images]
The US State Department on Sunday confirmed an American citizen had died this week in the occupied West Bank, with family and Palestinian officials attributing his death to arson by Israeli settlers.
The Palestinian Authority and witnesses reported on Thursday that Israeli settlers had set fire to homes and cars in the occupied West Bank village of Silwad, the latest attack in the occupied territory.
Khamis Ayyad, 41, died from smoke inhalation due to the fires, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Speaking Friday at a press conference in Chicago, Ayyad’s family said he had moved to the West Bank several years ago with his wife and children, but continued to work for an American company.
He is at least the second American citizen killed in West Bank settler violence in July, after a 20-year-old man was beaten to death while visiting family in the town of Sinjil.
Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, demanded Israel investigate that killing, calling it a “criminal and terrorist act,” but has yet to comment on the death of Ayyad.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said “several suspects… set fire to property and vehicles in the Silwad area,” but forces dispatched to the scene were unable to identify them.
It added that Israeli police had launched an investigation.
Asked for comment on the latest death, a State Department spokesperson said “we can confirm the death of a US citizen in the town of Silwad in the West Bank,” without naming Ayyad.
“We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank,” the spokesperson said, on condition of anonymity.
The occupied West Bank is home to some three million Palestinians, who live alongside about 500,000 Israeli settlers, a number that is increasing as the Israeli government continues to expand illegal settlements in the territory.
Violence in the territory has surged throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, with an increasing number of attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers.
According to the UN, at least 964 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023, when the war broke out.
