Mukhmas, West Bank – Mourners gathered Thursday for the funeral of Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a 19-year-old Palestinian-American, who was shot and killed Wednesday night during an attack on the village of Mukhmas, east of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Raed Abu Ali, a Mukhmas resident, described a scene that began Wednesday afternoon when a group of Israeli settlers attacked a local farmer, sparking clashes as villagers intervened. Abu Ali stated that Israeli forces arrived and, during the ensuing violence, settlers shot and killed Abu Siyam, too injuring several others. He alleged that the army deployed tear gas, sound grenades and live ammunition, and that settlers continued to assault injured individuals with clubs even after they fell to the ground.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Abu Siyam’s death, attributing it to critical wounds sustained during the Wednesday afternoon incident. The family of Abu Siyam, a U.S. Citizen born in Philadelphia, said he was among approximately 30 residents attempting to prevent settlers from stealing their livestock, specifically goats. Witnesses reported that as both villagers and settlers threw stones, settlers opened fire, striking Abu Siyam fatally.
The Israeli military acknowledged using “riot dispersal methods” after receiving reports of Palestinians throwing rocks but denied its forces fired during the clashes. However, Abu Ali claimed that the presence of the army emboldened the settlers, leading them to begin shooting live bullets.
Abu Siyam’s death marks the latest instance of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces and settlers killed 240 Palestinians in 2023, while Palestinians killed 17 Israelis, including six soldiers, over the same period. The Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission stated that Abu Siyam was the first Palestinian killed by settlers in 2026.
The family of Abu Siyam has called for accountability for his killing, noting that he is at least the sixth American citizen to be killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the occupied West Bank in the last two years. Abdulhamid Siyam, a cousin of the deceased, described the loss as “a big loss” and criticized what he characterized as unchecked settler actions in the West Bank, stating, “A young man of 19 shot and killed in this cold blood and no responsibility, impunity completely.”
The Israeli embassy in Washington stated that the incident is under review and that an “operational inquiry… must be completed as soon as possible.” The U.S. State Department said it was aware of the death of a U.S. Citizen and was “carefully monitoring the situation.”
