More than 30 US senators have signed a letter demanding that the Trump administration open an independent investigation into the February killing of a 19-year-old American in the occupied West Bank, the ninth US citizen killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since 2022.
The letter, led by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and addressed to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the US attorney general, Pam Bondi; and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, asks for a US-led investigation and a full accounting of where all nine cases stand, and for the administration to brief Congress on the killing by 5 April. None of the cases have resulted in a criminal conviction.
“This has now become a consistent pattern in which Americans are being killed in the West Bank by settlers or the [Israel Defense Forces (IDF)] without justice or accountability, despite promises from US officials,” the lawmakers wrote in the Wednesday letter, which was shared exclusively with the Guardian.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, born in Philadelphia, was shot on 18 February in the West Bank village of Mukhmas during an attack on Palestinian farmers by a group of masked settlers. Witnesses said that Israeli soldiers present did not intervene, provide medical assistance or make any arrests.
Thursday’s letter was signed by 31 Democratic and independent senators, including senior figures such as the senate appropriations vice-chair, Patty Murray; the Democratic whip, Dick Durbin; the ranking member of the Senate armed services committee, Jack Reed; and the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Notably absent are both of Pennsylvania’s senators, the Democrat John Fetterman and the Republican Dave McCormick, despite Abu Siyam being a Philadelphia native.
The state department confirmed the death of a US citizen in the West Bank on 18 February, and said it will “expect a full, thorough and transparent investigation” and sends “our deepest condolences to the family”. “We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank,” a department spokesperson said, “and take particular interest in this case due to our duty to protect American citizens”. The US embassy in Jerusalem has been in direct contact with the family, the spokesperson added.
