Jewish settlers in the West Bank killed a 19-year-old Palestinian American on Thursday as settler violence continues to surge in the Israeli-occupied territory.
According to Haaretz, Nasrallah Abu Siam was shot during a settler attack on the village of Mukhmas in the central West Bank, and he later succumbed to his wounds. Two other Palestinians were injured by the gunfire.
An eyewitness told the Israeli newspaper that after the settlers shot Abu Siam, they “crowded around him, hit him with clubs and stones, and nearly killed him. They behaved like animals. There was no humanity in them.”
Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhamas, told The Associated Press that when Israeli troops were deployed to the town during the attack and fired tear gas and live ammunition, emboldening the settlers. “When the settlers saw the army, they were encouraged and started shooting live bullets,” he said.
The IDF acknowledged that its forces conducted “riot dispersal methods” in the area but denied that Israeli troops used live ammunition. During the attack, settlers stole livestock, and Haaretz reported that footage shows settlers leading dozens of sheep away from the village.
Abu Siyam’s mother told the AP that he was an American citizen. Last year, two US citizens were killed by settler attacks in the West Bank, including Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old from Florida who was beaten to death by settlers while visiting family in the Palestinian territory.
Khamis Ayyad, another Palestinian American who was in his 40s, died of smoke inhalation while trying to put out fires set by settlers during an attack on a West Bank village in August 2025.
