‘Like the KKK rode at night’: Investigation details murder of US-Palestinian teenager in West Bank
Witnesses say Israeli soldiers were present as settlers shot the young man before leaving with more than 300 sheep and goats
An eyewitness reconstruction of last week’s killing of 19-year-old US-born Palestinian Nasrallah Abu Siyam found that Israeli settlers opened fire during a raid in the occupied West Bank village of Mukhmas.
The raid resulted in the wounding of several and the theft of more than 300 sheep and goats, while no arrests were made despite witnesses confirming that Israeli soldiers were at the scene.
Abu Siyam, born in Philadelphia, was killed on the first full day of Ramadan, with the Palestinian Health Ministry confirming he died from critical gunshot wounds sustained that afternoon.
Residents said the rampaging Jewish settlers entered the village's farmland and attempted to seize livestock, with the victim's cousin, Abdulhamid Siyam, telling the BBC, “A young man of 19 shot and killed in cold blood, and no responsibility … Impunity completely.”
Eyewitness accounts reconstructed by journalist Jasper Nathaniel describe masked settlers armed with M16 rifles confronting shepherds, followed by live fire after villagers intervened.
At least four others were wounded, some shot while attempting to carry the injured to safety, while several were beaten with metal rods before settlers withdrew with more than 300 sheep and goats, villagers said.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army said troops deployed to the scene used “riot dispersal means to restore order,” claiming that “no IDF gunfire was reported.”
The US State Department said it was “carefully monitoring the situation” and later extended its “deepest condolences,” expecting “a full, thorough, and transparent investigation.”
“Nassrallah Abu Siyam is at least the seventh American killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the West Bank since October 7. No one has been arrested in any of the cases. No one has been held accountable,” Nathaniel wrote in his reconstruction of the attack.
US Congressman Brendan Boyle, who represents Abu Siyam’s home district in Philadelphia, urged an “honest and open investigation” into the killing.
Since the genocide in Gaza began in October 2023, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
In 2025 alone, Israeli authorities and settlers carried out approximately 24,000 documented violations, including more than 430 military operations and airstrikes targeting areas like Jenin and Tulkarem.
This "year of bloodshed" saw the displacement of over 37,000 Palestinians as systematic infrastructure destruction forcibly displaced hundreds of families.
Settler violence reached critical levels with over 1,800 recorded attacks in 2025, which included the destruction of thousands of olive trees and a surge in home demolitions, as Israel’s annexation ambitions manifested.