US asks Israel to probe ‘terrorist’ killing of American citizen by settlers

Trump’s envoy Mike Huckabee calls the killing of 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet in occupied West Bank a ‘criminal’ act.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has called on Israel to probe the killing of 20-year-old American citizen Sayfollah Musallet, who was beaten to death by settlers in the occupied West Bank, calling the incident a “terrorist act”.

Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, said on Tuesday that he asked Israel to “aggressively investigate” the killing of the Florida-born Musallet, who was visiting family when he was attacked in the Palestinian town of Sinjil.

“There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” Huckabee wrote in a social media post. “Saif was just 20 yrs old.”

Huckabee’s strongly worded post marks a rare critical stance towards Israel by the US envoy, a staunch Israel supporter, who has previously said, “There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”

But the US ambassador’s statement stops short of backing the Musallet family’s demand for Washington to launch its own probe into the killing.