The US State Department has confirmed that a Palestinian American man was killed in the occupied West Bank and urged Israeli authorities to investigate the incident.
Khamis Ayyad died from smoke inhalation last Thursday after illegal Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and homes in Silwad, a village in the central part of the occupied West Bank, according to local reports.
"It's a violent situation. There have been a few Americans who've passed in this kind of a dynamic," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Tuesday, without naming Ayyad directly.
She added that the US has called on Israel to investigate the incident, saying: "Our first priority, and it's not a motto or slogan, is the safety and security of Americans everywhere."
Details surrounding Ayyad’s death are still emerging, but it comes amid a sharp escalation of settler violence across the West Bank.
Last month, another Palestinian American, Sayfollah Musallet, was beaten to death.
His family said he was surrounded by Israeli settlers who blocked emergency medics from reaching him for three hours. He died before reaching a hospital.
Musallet became the seventh American killed in the occupied West Bank since January 2022.
Israeli forces and settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the past year, including assaults on homes, farms, and places of worship.
At least 1,013 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured during that time, according to Palestinian health authorities.
