Israel — For years, Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen has been asking what has happened to the American citizens who were killed in the occupied West Bank, either by illegal Jewish settlers or the Israeli occupation forces (IOF). He also wants to know why nobody has been held accountable for their murders.
Resolution called for investigation on ‘Israel’ killing US citizens
Van Hollen introduced a resolution which called for the State Department to investigate the killings and also put out a report on the increasing violence in the West Bank. But the US Senate blocked the resolution on 30 September, voting 47 to 51 against advancing the measure.
US SENATE VOTES DOWN REQUEST FOR ANSWERS ON 9 AMERICANS KILLED IN WEST BANK
47–51 vote blocks Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s resolution
46 Democrats voted FOR
1 Republican — Rand Paul — voted FOR
— Brandon
(@Brandons__1) September 30, 2026
One Democrat — John Fetterman — and all Republicans except for one voted against it. 46 Democrats — and Republican Rand Paul — supported it.
No surprise there. https://t.co/OcGjKySQrX pic.twitter.com/PSNQdZEleS
— AIPAC Tracker (@TrackAIPAC) September 29, 2026
US politicians acting to support ‘Israel’, not the American people
In a statement on the vote, Van Hollen called for answers for not only the Palestinian families murdered by ‘Israel’ in the West Bank, but also the American citizens. He said:
The U.S. Government — including this Administration — has said time and again that our number one priority abroad is ensuring the safety and security of American citizens. And yet, as we’ve seen violence rise in the West Bank, nine American citizens have been killed in recent years, and they have received no justice and no accountability.
Their families – and the American people – deserve answers on their deaths… it’s clear the United States must do more. It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of U.S. taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values – this resolution was an opportunity to shed light on a reality that flies in the face of that principle.
These politicians do not represent the vast majority of the American public. A new poll by the Institute of Middle East Understanding found both Democrat and Republican voters want to see ‘Israel’ investigated for its killing and abuse of not just Americans but also Palestinians.
Out of the more than 1,200 voters surveyed for the poll, 84 percent support Van Hollen’s resolution to investigate cases where US citizens are believed to have been harmed or killed by the Israeli occupation’s military or settlers. Of these, 83 percent were Democrats and 82 percent were Republicans. 72 percent of all voters, including 75 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans, also support the resolution’s demand for a review of ‘Israel’s’ treatment of Palestinians.
Nine Americans murdered by settlers in the West Bank since 2022
Nine American citizens have been killed in the West Bank by ‘Israel’ since 2022, at least 15 since 2003. As of 3 October, three young Palestinian Americans are also currently imprisoned by the Israeli occupation. They are Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi, 18, Adam Karakrah, 16, and Sama Safi, 20.
Among those ‘Israel’ has killed in cold blood was Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. A Palestinian-American, Abu Akleh was shot and killed in May 2022 while covering a military raid in Jenin refugee camp. She was wearing a press vest at the time.
More than four years have now passed, but the report prepared by the United States Security Coordinator has still not been released, and Congress has not been provided with an update on an FBI investigation. The FBI had reportedly opened an investigation into Abu Akleh’s death in November 2022, but had not publicly released the findings.
An investigation found that although ‘Israel’ said her shooting was a mistake, it was in fact deliberate. A sniper shot her in the head. Those coming to her aid were also targeted. Numerous investigations, reports, and family members have accused both ‘Israeli’ authorities and the U.S. government of covering up the findings regarding the intentional targeting.
Four months before the IOF killed Abu Akleh, they stopped 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Assad at a checkpoint as he was returning home from a family visit. They dragged him from his car; handcuffed, blindfolded and gagged. The IOF then subjected him to a field interrogation, before abandoning him, unconscious. Another Palestinian later found Assad where he had been left by the military. He was dead. Assad had lived in the US for 40 years, but in 2009 had decided to return to Palestine to live out his last years.
No meaningful investigations carried out by ‘Israel’ or the US
‘Israel’ killed 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar on 19 January 2024. He was one of the 94 children and among the 370 Palestinians to be murdered by the occupation in the West Bank between 7 October 2023 and 19 January — when he was killed. He was born and raised in the US for 16 years, but then went to the West Bank to find his roots.
It is still unknown who fired the 10 bullets which rained down on his vehicle that day, but the bullet holes showed three different weapons had been fired. One of the bullets hit Abdel Jabbar in the head, killing him.
Only weeks later on 10 February 2024, in very similar circumstances, ‘Israel’ also targeted and killed Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, 17, who was born in the US but lived in the West Bank since he was two. Khdour was shot twice in the head while sat in a car with a relative, in Biddu. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. An eyewitness said the shots came from a white Mitsubishi with ‘Israeli’ plates. Villagers recognised the vehicle, yet still no one has been held accountable for Khdour’s killing.
26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was an American Turkish citizen. She died after being shot in the head in September 2024, by an ‘Israeli’ sniper. Ezgi had been at a demonstration on settlement expansion, near Nablus in the West Bank. A self-investigation by the IOF said it was:
highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her
However, a Turkish government investigation found she had been “deliberately targeted.”
One American child was shot 11 times by IOF army, another citizen was beaten to death by settlers
Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, a 14-year-old American, was in Turmus Ayya, in April 2025, picking almonds. He was fatally shot 11 times by the IOF. Two other 14-year-olds were also shot, but did not die. The occupation then intentionally held up the ambulance transporting the injured to hospital for around 30 minutes.
Saifullah Kamal Musallet, 23, was a Florida resident. He was visiting his family in Sinjil in July 2025, when he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers. The occupation again blocked ambulance access, so they were unable to reach Musallet for more than two hours.
Palestinian American Khamis Ayyad, 40, was killed by Israeli terrorists, just five years after returning to the West Bank. In August 2025, Israeli settlers were yet again terrorising the community, this time setting alight cars and homes. Flames were approaching a Palestinian house in which 13 people were sheltering. So Ayyad attempted to extinguish them. However, he was overcome by smoke inhalation and tear gas fired by the IOF, and died on the way to the hospital.
Settlers, aided by the occupation’s army, were stealing sheep in the village of Mukhmas, in February 2026. A group of villagers confronted them, leading settlers to shoot three Palestinians with live bullets. One of these was 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siam, who died on his way to the hospital.
A “consistent pattern”
Following ‘Israel’s’ killing of Abu Siam, Van Hollen and 30 other senators wrote to the Trump administration. They demanded an investigation into his death and updates on the other cases. They claimed there is a “consistent pattern” in which Americans are being killed in the West Bank by settlers or the IDF without any justice or accountability, despite numerous promises from U.S. officials.
For all nine of these killings, no one has yet been held accountable by the Netanyahu government, nor has the U.S. government upheld its duty to protect Americans and secure justice and accountability for their deaths.
This vote was the predictable outcome of a system built to protect impunity. But only if the killer is ‘Israel’, and the weapons are American.
Under a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, the US pledged to provide ‘Israel’ with $3.8 billion a year. $33 billion is in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion is for missile defence systems.
This money is rifles, armoured vehicles, surveillance drones, tear-gas canisters, and guided bombs that end up in the hands of the Israeli occupation’s military, and the settler militias it protects. It is the same hardware that is deployed at West Bank checkpoints, during night raids on Palestinian towns, and in operations where American citizens have been shot, beaten, and left to die.
Lives of US citizens are politically expendable when it comes to ‘Israel’
The Leahy Laws prohibit US assistance to foreign security units implicated in gross human rights violations. The Foreign Assistance Act requires reporting when there are credible allegations of systematic abuse. But successive administrations, both Democrats and Republicans, have treated these as optional when ‘Israel’ is involved.
The State Department has repeatedly promised reviews, but there have been none. No public findings, no indictments, and no accountability. Van Hollen’s resolution was only calling for a report, nothing more. But still this could not clear the Senate.
Polling shows the vast majority of the US public support accountability. But AIPAC and its affiliated organisations spend hundreds of millions funding campaigns for pro-Israel candidates, and punishing dissent.
While 46 Democrats voted to demand an investigation, 50 Republicans — and a single Democrat — along with evangelical lobbying and donor pressure to block the measure and protect their political careers.
As long as ‘Israel’ is armed, funded, and defended by Washington, American blood in the West Bank will be spilled with impunity, as political survival in Washington continues to outweigh the lives of its own citizens.
Featured image via AlJazeera
By Charlie Jaay
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