In a serious and compound crime, Israeli settler militias killed two Palestinian civilians, one of them held U.S. citizenship, through physical assault and gunfire, and injured 27 others last Friday in a largescale assault targeting residents of Sinjil village. The latter was organizing a peaceful protest against the establishment of a new settlement outpost on their land, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank. The settler militias backed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) also carried out direct attacks on medical crews and ambulances and arrested several international activists.

This crime comes amid an unprecedented escalation in settlers’ crimes against Palestinian civilians and their property over the past two years across the West Bank. These attacks are carried out with full coordination and protection from the IOF, who provide both political and military cover to armed settler militias to conduct systematic assaults on Palestinian villages and farmers.

According to eyewitness testimonies and investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) staff over the past three days regarding the crime, following the Friday prayer, on 11 July 2025, dozens of residents from al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya and Sinjil villages, along with Palestinian and international human rights activists gathered at the outskirts of Jabal Tal al-Baten area, where Israeli settlers had established a settlement outpost, specifically on the southern side of Sinjil village, northeast of Ramallah, to organize a peaceful protest against the establishment of the outpost. At around 14:00, the participants, including the villagers and activities, arrived at the area, and as soon as they approached Jabal Tal al-Baten area, about 12 Israeli settlers, most of whom were armed with pistols, violently attacked them using batons, sticks, and stones. The settlers also chased the participants, forcing them to flee in various directions.

According to eyewitness testimonies, an additional group of settler militias in 4WD vehicles and armed with pistols surrounded the residents from three directions, including the road leading to where the villagers were present. The settlers began chasing the residents, who fled from the first settlers’ attack. During the chase, Palestinian ambulances attempted to reach the area to evacuate the wounded. It was later reported that 27 people had been injured, two of whom were transported to hospitals, after being beaten with batons, sticks, and stones. The settlers intercepted one of the ambulances and smashed its windows using sticks and stones, obstructing its access to the injured.

At approximately 16:00, Mohammed Reziq Hasan Shalabi (23), who was present in the incident scene, made a phone call to his mother that lasted only about 20 seconds. During the call, only sounds of screams and beating could be heard, while Shalabi himself did not utter a single word before the call was suddenly cut off. Shalabi’s family immediately informed the Palestinian Civil Liaison Office, which in turn contacted the IOF and then informed the family that their son had been detained by the IOF. However, two hours later, the Liaison Office contacted the family again and confirmed that Shalabi was not in IOF custody and his name did not appear on the list of detainees. Upon confirming his disappearance, the family launched a field search operation with the participation of the villagers and ambulance crews. At approximately 22:15, he was found lying in the “Bir al-Tal” area, which is around 4 kilometers away from where the body of Saif al-Deen was found.

According to a paramedic’s testimony, Shalabi was found dead after being shot with a bullet that entered his chest and exited through his back. He was transported to the Palestine Medical Complex, where he was pronounced dead.

At around 17:00, ambulance crews received an urgent report about a missing or critically injured person in “Bir al-Sarar” area, located between al-Mazra’a and Sinjil villages, within the incident scene. Following official coordination by the Palestinian Civil Liaison with the IOF, medical crews were allowed to access the area. The ambulance crew immediately proceeded on foot, walking for about 15 to 20 minutes through a rugged mountainous area. At around 18:25, they arrived at the area and found Saif al-Deen Kamel ‘Abed al-Kareem Maslat (23) lying on the ground, unconscious, but showing weak vital signs. There were signs of bruises on the chest, back, and head, indicating that he had been beaten with stones and sticks. He was unable to speak clearly and muttered incomprehensible words. After placing him on the stretcher, the medical team began transporting him back along the same path, which took about 20 minutes to exit the area. Just before reaching the ambulance, his heart suddenly stopped, so the ambulance team performed a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).   He was immediately transferred to Du’aa Care Medical Center in Sinjil village, where the doctors confirmed that his condition required urgent referral to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. On the way to the complex, the ambulance team continued to perform CPR until they arrived at the Palestine Medical Complex within 13 to 14 minutes. Unfortunately, Saif al-Deen was officially pronounced dead at around 19:40. It is worth noting that Saif al-Deen was a resident of al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiya village, northeast of Ramallah, and held U.S. citizenship. He had arrived three weeks earlier on a family visit.

Field Information indicates that Mohammed Reziq Hasan Shalabi and Seif al-Deen Meslet were killed simultaneously but in separate locations approximately four kilometers apart. Eyewitness testimonies suggest that both victims were likely beaten and subjected to physical assault while one of them was directly shot. The evidence points they were killed in the field by Israeli settlers, under the clear cover of the IOF.

One of the injured, who had been assaulted by settlers, said to PCHR’s field researcher that he saw a group of armed settlers violently assaulting Saif al-Deen Maslat followed by gunfire in the area, where Mohammed Shalabi was later found.  He added that the settlers told him to inform the residents that they had killed two people.

International activists also reported that they had been detained for some time and assaulted by armed settlers during the violent attack.

This compounded crime is added to the growing list of escalating crimes committed by settlers with full military and political support from the Israeli state. It further proves that what is unfolding in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, reflects a systematic policy by Israel and settler gangs to impose new facts on the ground through settler terrorism.  Such crime and violence constitute a grave violation of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of an occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory (Article 49) as well as collective punishment, obligating the occupying power to protect the civilian population.

IOF’s complicity and intervention to protect settlers alongside the shooting of unarmed civilians attempting to defend themselves further evidence that these settler militias, who were openly armed through government decisions declared by Israeli ministers, operate as unofficial arms for the Israeli state and enjoy political and legal protection, rendering these crimes the direct responsibility of Israel.

It should be noted that this is not the first time a Palestinian holding U.S. citizenship has been killed by the IOF or settlers without any meaningful accountability or response from the U.S. Government, which continues to turn a blind eye to the targeting of its own citizens of Palestinian origin or international activists holding its nationality.

Previously, IOF deliberately shot and killed Journalist Shireen Abu ‘Akleh while she was reporting from Jenin refugee camp in May 2022, despite wearing a clearly marked press vest. Moreover, Palestinian American elderly ‘Omar As’ad (80) died after being arrested and taken by IOF, who left him in the freezing weather in Jaljilya village, north of Ramallah. 

To date, no Israeli officials have been held accountable for either of these crimes. More recently, IOF killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a prominent human rights activist, during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip while the U. S. administration remained silent. Eygi had an international profile and was well-known for her advocacy for the Palestinian cause.

These successive crimes have been met with no serious action by the U. S. to ensure accountability or even issue public condemnation, reflecting a selective and shameful approach to human rights. It also confirms the U. S.’s double standards when the victims are Palestinians even if they hold the U.S. nationality.

This approach raises serious questions about the U.S. administration’s commitment to protecting the lives and rights of its citizens. By failing to act, the U.S. renders itself an implicit partner in the impunity afforded to Israel, opening the door to alternative international legal actions, especially after the failure of domestic and dual justice systems.

PCHR emphasizes that what is going in Sinjil village is not an isolated incident, but part of a systematic policy aimed at emptying the village of the indigenous Palestinian population to serve the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements—a practice that constitutes a war crime under international law.

The ongoing impunity and alarming international silence embolden the IOF and settler militias to perpetrate these crimes against the Palestinian civilians and further entrench the settler colonial regime in the occupied Palestinian territory. This occurs in blatant violation of international law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

PCHR reiterates the ruling issued by the International Criminal Court in July 2024, which emphasized that the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, including the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza
Strip, is illegal. The ruling obligated Israel to immediately end its unlawful presence, cease all settler violence, and evacuate settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt.)

These crimes ring yet another alarming bell for the international community to take immediate and effective action to stop the crimes committed by IOF and settlers in the oPt and end the Israeli apartheid regime imposed on the Palestinian people.

PCHR calls for serious action to hold the war criminals accountable before international justice and end the entrenched culture of impunity. PCHR further emphasizes that the ongoing international silence constitutes indirect complicity, fueling the culture of impunity and encouraging Israel to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people.