A funeral was held Sunday for a Palestinian-American and his good friend who have been killed within the Israel-occupied West Financial institution.
Saifullah Kamel Musallet, 20, a Tampa, Florida native, was killed in a confrontation with settlers whereas defending his household’s land within the city of Singjil, north of Ramallah, in accordance with his household and the Palestinian Well being Ministry. His household instructed CBS Information he was meant to be headed again to Florida this week after visiting household.
Musallet’s good friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot within the chest, in accordance with the well being ministry.
On Sunday, their our bodies have been carried via the streets of Al-Mazraa a- Sharqiya, a city south of the place they have been killed. Mourners, waving Palestinian flags, chanted “God is nice.”
Ammar Awad / REUTERS
“He labored at his household’s ice cream store in Tampa and was liked by so many individuals there. He was all the time form and compassionate,” Musallet’s cousin Fatmah Muhammad, who’s a enterprise proprietor in Southern California, instructed CBS Information on Saturday.
The U.S. State Division spokesperson confirmed Saturday to CBS Information {that a} U.S. citizen died within the West Financial institution on Friday however referred questions on any investigation into the incident to Israel’s authorities. Musallet’s household, in the meantime, stated it needs the U.S. to analyze.
“We demand the U.S. State Division lead an instantaneous investigation and maintain the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for his or her crimes,” the household’s assertion learn.
Courtesy from the Musallet Household 
Israel’s army has stated Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis within the space on Friday, flippantly wounding two individuals and setting off a bigger confrontation.
Violence within the West Financial institution is on the rise, with Israeli settlers increasing their efforts to occupy land within the contested area. Palestinians and rights teams have lengthy accused the army of ignoring settler violence.
Musallet is the fifth American to be killed within the West Financial institution because the begin of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.
Gaza ceasefire talks drag on
In the meantime, Israel and Hamas appeared no nearer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month conflict and free some Israeli hostages. The oblique talks over a U.S. proposal for a 60-day ceasefire started every week in the past in Doha, Qatar.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington final week to debate the cope with the Trump administration however a brand new sticking level has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops in the course of the truce, elevating questions over the feasibility of a brand new deal, the Related Press reported.
Israel needs to maintain forces in what it says is a vital land hall in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as a sign that Israel intends to proceed the conflict as soon as a short lived ceasefire expires.
In a press release Sunday, Netanyahu’s workplace slammed Hamas for refusing to just accept the framework of the newest proposal, saying the terrorist group is “making unreasonable calls for.”
JACK GUEZ/AFP through Getty Pictures 
Israel says it can solely finish the conflict as soon as Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, one thing it refuses to do. Hamas says it’s keen to free all of the remaining 50 hostages, lower than half stated to be alive, in alternate for an finish to the conflict and the total withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The 21-month conflict was sparked when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 individuals and abducting 251. A lot of these hostages have since both been launched or their our bodies have been recovered in ceasefire agreements or different offers.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed greater than 58,000 Palestinians, greater than half of them ladies and kids, in accordance with Gaza’s Hamas-run Well being Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its rely. The United Nations and different worldwide organizations see the Well being Ministry’s figures as essentially the most dependable statistics on conflict casualties.
Margaret Brennan
contributed to this report.
