AL-MAZRA’A ASH-SHARQIYA, West Bank >> A 20-year-old American citizen from Tampa was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on Friday while visiting family in the occupied West Bank, family members and officials told The Washington Post.

Sayfollah Kamel Musallet’s relatives and the Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet was killed during a settler attack on the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the latest incident in a wave of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces said it was looking into reports of a death during a confrontation between Palestinians and Israelis in the area.

“We are aware of reports regarding a Palestinian civilian killed and a number of injured Palestinians as a result of the confrontation, and they are being looked into,” the IDF said in a statement.

A second man, Mohammad al-Shalabi, 23, was shot to death during the attack, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Ministry officials said Shalabi was left bleeding for hours.

On Saturday, the distraught family prepared for Musallet’s burial.

“My son is gone forever,” his mother, Maha Halum, said amid tears. Despite how frequent the violence has become, she said, nothing was being done, and “at the end of the day there is no change in our lives, in the suffering in our homes.”

Musallet was born and grew up in Port Charlotte, Florida, said his father, Kamel Musallet. The father and son, who was known as Saif, were working together at an ice cream and dessert shop they opened recently in Tampa.

Fatmah Muhammad, Musallet’s second cousin, said he was known as “just such an honorable and loving and genuine guy.”

The State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen’s death in the West Bank but did not comment on Musallet.

“This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,” Kamel Musallet said. “We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice.”

Three other Palestinian Americans, all teenagers, have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. Their cases remain unresolved; two of the three families told The Post last year that they’ve since been harassed by Israeli authorities.

Musallet traveled to the West Bank last month to visit family in al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, northeast of Ramallah, relatives said. His mother said he was looking for a wife.

“He was raised in Florida. He was a great citizen, a great friend, sibling, son — this is just horrific,” Muhammad, his cousin, said from New York. “He always was full of smiles — just an honest, caring person.”

“He was a beautiful and loving son — a beautiful soul,” said his father, who spoke from Orlando.

Settler violence in the West Bank, often in the form of armed Israelis carrying out violent raids against Palestinian villages, has spiked since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. Fighters streamed out of Gaza early that day and killed around 1,200 people in nearby communities and took about 250 people hostage. Israel responded with a campaign to eradicate Hamas that has killed more than 57,000 people, the Gaza Health Ministry says.

Palestinians and rights groups say settlers act often with impunity in the presence of Israeli soldiers or with their help. The Biden administration issued sanctions against some radical settlers, but President Donald Trump rescinded them after taking office.

Samar Shalabi, a relative of Mohammad al-Shalabi from al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya, which is close to Sinjil, said residents of both towns gathered after Friday prayers to peacefully spend time on land that settlers had been attacking. When they arrived, Shalabi said, settlers were hiding. Soon, he said, they attacked.

The IDF said some Palestinians threw rocks and two Israelis were lightly injured.

“Shortly after, a violent confrontation developed in the area involving Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes, and rock hurling,” the IDF said in a statement.

Shalabi said Mohammad’s body was found after the attack with a bullet through his chest and signs of abuse on his body.

Meanwhile, Musallet was injured and had called for help, but an ambulance couldn’t reach him for more than two hours because settlers were blocking the area, Abdul Zaben, a friend, told The Post.

A group that included Zaben and a younger brother of Musallet eventually reached him, but he had been bludgeoned and died before reaching the ambulance, Zaben said.

“Nobody does anything” about the violence against American citizens in the West Bank, Musallet’s father told The Post. “It’s just another name, another number.”

Amer Rabee, a Palestinian American 14-year-old, was shot dead by Israeli forces in April in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, home to many U.S. citizens. Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour, Palestinian American 17-year-olds, were killed in the West Bank last year in confrontations that involved Israeli forces and settlers.

“Who is killing us and who is killing our children is the United States with their arms?” said Musallet’s grandmother, Dalal Zaben, 65. “They can stop this in five minutes if he [Trump] wants to.”

Berger reported from Jaffa, Israel, and Sheinerman from Washington.