Van Hollen: 9 Americans Killed by Israel in West Bank, No Accountability
(MENAFN) Chris Van Hollen, a US senator, on Tuesday pressed again for answers over the deaths of nine American citizens killed in the occupied West Bank since 2022, saying Israeli settlers or security forces were responsible and no one has faced consequences.
In a Senate floor speech, a video of which he posted on X, the lawmaker said: “I want to take a few minutes to tell my colleagues about these nine American citizens who’ve been killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in just over the last four years,”
He identified the victims as Omar Assad, 78; Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a journalist for an international news network; Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, 17; Mohammad Khdour, 17; Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, a Turkish-American activist; Amer Rabee, 14; Saif Musallet, 20; Khamis Ayyad, 40; and Nasrallah Abu Siyam, 19.
Describing the case of Assad, Van Hollen said Israeli soldiers halted him at a checkpoint in January 2022 and “dragged him from his car. They bound his hands behind his back. They gagged him. They blindfolded him, and they left him lying on the ground outside.” Assad, the senator said, “died of a stress-induced heart attack,”
Abu Akleh was killed by a gunshot to the head fired by Israeli security forces near the Jenin refugee camp in May 2022. “When she was killed, she was wearing a bright blue vest, clearly identifying her as a journalist,” Van Hollen said.
Eygi, who grew up in Seattle, was killed in September 2024. Van Hollen said she was “shot in the head by an Israeli soldier from approximately 200 meters” He added that Rabee was “shot 11 times by two different weapons.”
The senator also pointed to remarks by Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, who labeled the killing of Musallet “a criminal and terrorist act.”
“He even said there must be accountability. So why has there been no accountability?” Van Hollen said.
After detailing each death, he repeated the same line: “No one has been held accountable.”
He closed with: “Nine American citizens dead. No accountability,” he said.
The speech follows a setback last month, when the Senate voted 47-51 to block a resolution Van Hollen led. The measure would have required the secretary of state to deliver a report on Israel’s human rights practices within 30 days. It would have covered killings of US citizens by Israeli forces or occupiers since January 2022 and the status of any investigations.
In a Senate floor speech, a video of which he posted on X, the lawmaker said: “I want to take a few minutes to tell my colleagues about these nine American citizens who’ve been killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in just over the last four years,”
He identified the victims as Omar Assad, 78; Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, a journalist for an international news network; Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, 17; Mohammad Khdour, 17; Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, a Turkish-American activist; Amer Rabee, 14; Saif Musallet, 20; Khamis Ayyad, 40; and Nasrallah Abu Siyam, 19.
Describing the case of Assad, Van Hollen said Israeli soldiers halted him at a checkpoint in January 2022 and “dragged him from his car. They bound his hands behind his back. They gagged him. They blindfolded him, and they left him lying on the ground outside.” Assad, the senator said, “died of a stress-induced heart attack,”
Abu Akleh was killed by a gunshot to the head fired by Israeli security forces near the Jenin refugee camp in May 2022. “When she was killed, she was wearing a bright blue vest, clearly identifying her as a journalist,” Van Hollen said.
Eygi, who grew up in Seattle, was killed in September 2024. Van Hollen said she was “shot in the head by an Israeli soldier from approximately 200 meters” He added that Rabee was “shot 11 times by two different weapons.”
The senator also pointed to remarks by Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, who labeled the killing of Musallet “a criminal and terrorist act.”
“He even said there must be accountability. So why has there been no accountability?” Van Hollen said.
After detailing each death, he repeated the same line: “No one has been held accountable.”
He closed with: “Nine American citizens dead. No accountability,” he said.
The speech follows a setback last month, when the Senate voted 47-51 to block a resolution Van Hollen led. The measure would have required the secretary of state to deliver a report on Israel’s human rights practices within 30 days. It would have covered killings of US citizens by Israeli forces or occupiers since January 2022 and the status of any investigations.
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