[News] Anatomy of a lynching - A mob of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Anatomy of a lynching

A mob of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians who were out among their 
olive groves. Two young men were killed, tens were injured.

Interactive_WestBank_lynching_1
By Al Jazeera Staff 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/author/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458>
Published On 14 Aug 2025 - 
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2025/8/14/the-day-israeli-settlers-lynched-two-young-men-in-the-west-bank

*Mazraa, occupied West Bank* - Kamel Musallet was at home in Florida, 
United States, when he last spoke to his son Sayfollah (Saif), who was 
visiting their ancestral hometown of al-Mazaraa ash-Sharqiyah (Mazraa) 
in the occupied West Bank.

Saif, 20, was in high spirits, telling Kamel he might have found the 
woman he wanted to marry and talking about how to start the arrangements.

Four days later, Kamel woke up the morning of July 11 to a call from his 
younger son, Muhammad, 18, telling him that settlers had attacked Saif.

At the time, Saif was lying on the ground near an oak tree where he had 
hidden to get away from rampaging settlers; he was unconscious and 
having trouble breathing.

By the time Saif had been carried to an ambulance, he was dead.

Saif’s friend, 23-year-old Muhammad "Rizik" al-Shalabi from Mazraa, was 
found later in the night - shot, beaten, tortured and left to die of his 
wounds.

Al Jazeera spoke with witnesses, victims, town officials, first aid 
responders, and search and rescue volunteers.

This is the story of how Saif and Rizik were lynched by a mob of Israeli 
settlers.


    Afternoon picnic turned to horror

On July 11, after the noon Dhuhr prayer, Saif, Rizik, and about a half 
dozen friends decided to go to al-Baten to hang out in one of their 
family’s groves.

Al-Baten is the expansive, hilly area of olive groves between Mazraa and 
the neighbouring town of Sinjil, dotted with about 45 holiday homes 
largely owned by Palestinian Americans from the surrounding towns.

INTERACTIVE - Occupied West Bank Saif Mohammad killed setter Israel 
upload-1755183890(Al Jazeera)

Several of the young men were still in their prayer clothes when they 
parked at the bottom of the hill leading up from Sinjil to al-Baten on 
the hot July day - they were only planning to stay for a little while.

The friends were hanging out, joking and laughing, when at about 2:15pm 
they were approached by about a dozen settlers, many armed with clubs or 
sticks, and some with guns.

The settlers began to throw rocks at the boys, as videos from that day 
showed. Another video by Israeli far-right settler Elisha Vered 
suggested that rocks were thrown by some of the Palestinian young men in 
response.

The young men began to run, trying to escape the violent settlers, who 
called other settlers to join them.

Thus started an attack that unfolded over several hours, drawing in some 
70 settlers who chased and attacked everyone they could find in 
al-Baten, injuring 50 people and killing two.

There were 1,449 settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West 
Bank in 2024.

In 2023, 863 incidents were recorded between January and October 7, 
followed by an additional 428 attacks in the less than three months that 
followed the start of Israel's war on Gaza.

In the first half of 2025, there were 759 attacks documented.

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_gfx(Al Jazeera)


    A cherished son of ‘Little America’

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Saif was born on July 28, 2004, in Tampa, Florida, United States, to a 
family of US citizens.

He lived in Florida until the third grade, when the family moved to 
Mazraa in 2012, moving into a neighbourhood known as “Little America”, 
lined with large houses owned by Palestinian American families.

Growing up, Saif became known among family and friends for being the fun 
one, always making people laugh.

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_photo2Saif visits a beach with his aunt, 
Nihad [Courtesy of family]

Ten years later, after Saif graduated from high school around the corner 
from the family home in Mazraa, he moved back to Tampa to run the 
family’s new business: an ice cream shop called Ice Screamin.

An emotionally exhausted Kamel described his eldest as a respectful son 
who worked hard.

“Every time people gave positive [customer] reviews, he would send it to 
me,” he said, standing outside their Mazraa home.

“I told you! I told you!” Saif would tell his father. “I'm the best one 
at customer service.”

After working six days a week for more than a year, Saif wanted to 
return to the occupied West Bank for a two-month visit.

He arrived in early June, while Kamel returned to Florida to keep the 
business running.

Kamal Musallet and his son SayfollahKamel with Saif in an undated photo 
[Courtesy of family]

Saif wanted to use the time to relax, reconnect with his mother and 
siblings, as well as with his friends in town.

Like his friend Rizik, who had graduated from the same high school and 
was a known athlete and long jumper. Both boys grew up as devout Muslims.

Saif was also hoping he would meet someone he could marry, encouraged by 
the number of his friends getting engaged.


    A day of terror

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_illustration4

On the day of the attack, the friends separated in a panic, chased by 
the armed settlers, one of whom had opened fire in their direction.

As the group began to run east towards Highway 60 and Mazraa, Rizik and 
three other young men ended up veering north, while Saif and the others 
went south.

But several pick-up trucks, each with three or four settlers, came down 
Highway 60 and roared onto the lands of al-Baten, leaving the group 
trapped between settlers chasing them from above and settlers in trucks 
on the road below.

Two vehicles driven by settlers chased and rammed two of the boys.

A settler drove his truck along the top of a hill threatening villagers

By 2:30pm, villagers had received beseeching messages from the hunted 
Palestinians and came to the dirt road leading to al-Baten to try to help.

But a military drone flew over, releasing tear gas onto the villagers, 
then an Israeli army vehicle arrived, its soldiers throwing additional 
tear gas canisters at them.

“At that moment, we didn't know what the injuries were,” recalled Motaz 
Tafsha, the mayor of Sinjil. “Who was wounded? What was the damage? Is 
anyone alive? We don't know.”

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_gfx2(Al Jazeera)


    The murder of two young men

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Rizik ran on. Next to him was a young man who spoke to Al Jazeera later, 
requesting anonymity for his safety.

He said Rizik fell while jumping over a stone wall, hurting his legs, 
but that when they saw two boys who needed help, Rizik joined the young 
man in carrying them to safety.

But then Rizik and his friend found themselves surrounded by settlers.

They ran, but just as he dove for cover in the bushes, the friend saw a 
settler shoot Rizik in the chest.

“The settlers started shouting: ‘Yes! I got you!’” he recalled, 
describing how several settlers gathered around Rizik as he lay on the 
ground.

At about the time of the shooting, Rizik had called his family, but the 
family told others the call lasted only seconds, with no response from 
Rizik, although they heard shouts in Hebrew in the background.

Rizik’s friend ran for his life down the side of the mountain, heading east.

At 3:18pm, he sent a panicked voice message to local WhatsApp groups, 
begging for help: “Someone’s been martyred!” he beseeched.

/[Audio]: Witness to Muhammad Rizik al-Shalabi's shooting, believing 
he's been killed and sending a voice message calling for help./

Later reconstructions estimated that Rizik may have still been alive at 
the time, but he was dead by the time search parties were able to access 
the area to look for him.

Meanwhile, Saif and others were running for their lives further south, 
headed towards Ain al-Sarara.

As family members confirmed to Al Jazeera, one of those young men was 
caught along the way and tied up by a gang of about nine settlers.

Witnesses say the settlers repeatedly smashed the young man in the knee 
with their weapons, then dragged him, tied up, into a car and shot 
bullets all around him.

Then they threw him to the ground over and over, until the young man was 
begging them to kill him.

“They said: ‘I’m not going to kill you,’” a friend recalled on TikTok. 
“‘I’m going to chop off your arms and your legs and throw you on the 
side of the road like a dog.’”

According to Sinjil activist Ayed Ghafari, among the settlers was 
Yahariv Mangory, reportedly the leader of the outpost builders in 
al-Baten, who was carrying an M16 rifle.

Mangory later identified himself in an interview with Israel’s Channel 
14 as the “owner” of the al-Baten outposts.

Saif and the others had managed to go up a hill, but at about 3:30pm, 
they were met by a group of settlers coming downhill and attacked them 
from above, according to Ghafari, who spoke with the young men.

The settlers were pelting the young men with rocks, with occasional 
bullets zooming past them as they made their way down the hill.

A settler hit Saif square in the back with a rock, toppling him. He was 
instantly surrounded by a group of settlers who beat him with clubs and 
sticks all over, according to witnesses.

Dazed, Saif staggered to his feet after the settlers stopped beating 
him, heading south down the hill until he came across a big oak tree 
where a young Palestinian man was hiding.

Battered, he sank to the ground there for the next two and a half hours 
as the young man tried to reach out to people from Mazraa, asking for help.

Saif was vomiting and struggling to breathe, his condition worsening by 
the minute.

That was when Muhammad caught word that his big brother was in trouble.

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_gfx5(Al Jazeera)


    Blocking ambulances from helping the hunted

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_header5
(Al Jazeera)

Palestinian ambulances were trying to reach al-Baten as early as 2:45pm, 
as news of what was happening got out, but they found their access 
blocked by both Israeli settlers and soldiers.

Mayor Tafsha was coordinating with the military liaison very soon after 
the attacks began, requesting permission from the Israeli army to bring 
ambulances to al-Baten.

The army conveyed permission for ambulances to enter the area, yet one 
of them was attacked on the road.

Settlers attacking the ambulance the first time

As the ambulance approached, settlers in a pick-up truck going the other 
way on Highway 60 threw stones at it, damaging the windshield.

The team stopped to assess the damage, only to have another truck of 
settlers break through the back windshield and vandalise it.

Damage to the ambulance after the second attack

At about 3:30pm, Tafsha recalled seeing settlers near al-Baten attacking 
a group of Palestinian teenagers and blocking the entry of arriving 
ambulances.

Then, despite the military liaison's permission, the army also blocked 
the ambulances from entering al-Baten, delaying their entrance until 
they were let through at about 4pm.

Ambulances waiting for permission to enter al-Baten

Within 10 minutes, the ambulance found the young man whose knee had been 
shattered by the settlers, took him back to town so he could be 
transferred to the Istishari Hospital near Ramallah. Then it returned 
just before 5pm to pick up another injured man.

When the ambulances tried to come back again, the military stopped them 
for about 40 minutes, according to Tafsha, who was there at the time.

“And then a young man came out to us and said: ‘Hey, I have someone with 
me who is in danger, [he’s] suffocating … unable to breathe,’ recalled 
Tafsha.


    Finding Saif

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_header6
(Al Jazeera)

When Muhammad heard his brother was in trouble, he and a friend set out 
to find him, determined to get through the rampaging settlers and 
Israeli soldiers.

Another group of young men had headed out a little earlier, also to find 
Saif, worried by the pleas for help that were coming from the young man 
under the oak tree.

Separately, the two groups trekked out from Mazraa until they found 
Saif, arriving within about 20 minutes of each other, with Muhammad and 
his friend arriving last, at 5:20pm.

Once they got there, they could do nothing other than wait and hope that 
an ambulance would arrive soon. The terrain was too rough for them to 
try to move Saif, as they weren’t sure what his condition was, and even 
if they were to try to move him, they didn’t know which direction was safe.

It was only later that an ambulance crew was able to walk across the 
rough terrain to reach the oak tree with the worried young men huddled 
around an unconscious Saif.

It was about 6:05pm when they loaded him onto a stretcher, and the group 
walked the 20 minutes back to the ambulance waiting on the nearest road.

By the time they reached the ambulance, Saif had died.

It was then that Muhammad called his father.

“I don't know how to tell you this,” an emotional Muhammad told his 
father, “but your son, my brother, is gone.

"I’ve seen his last breath.”


    ‘Dirty tricks’ and a delayed search

Interactive_WestBank_Lynching_header7
(Al Jazeera)

Saif was brought to the hospital near Ramallah.

While there, Tafsha received a call from Rizik’s mother, who said he was 
missing.

Tafsha contacted the Palestinian liaison, who checked with the Israeli 
army, which in turn told the liaison that it had detained Rizik.

But reports were coming in from witnesses to the settlers shooting Rizik 
earlier in the day, and Tafsha relayed that information to the liaison.

The response came through from the Israeli army: in fact, they had 
detained someone else, not Rizik.

In speaking with Al Jazeera, Ghafari called this kind of confusion over 
Rizik’s identity as being a case of “dirty tricks” from the Israeli army.

“I immediately asked the liaison that we go out and look for him,” 
recalled Tafsha. “And I told all the young guys to go out with me and 
wait for permission [from the military liaison] to search.”

Searching for Rizik at night

It was dark already by the time the search started, led by Rizik’s 
friend who saw his shooting.

Rizik’s body was found at about 10pm.

The first man to see Rizik’s body, who also wished to remain 
unidentified, said it was clear that he had been badly beaten by 
settlers - his hand was clenched and his arm contorted.


    ‘I know I'm not going to get justice’

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The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called Kamel to offer his 
condolences and said he would ask Israel to launch investigations into 
what happened.

“I know I'm not going to get justice,” said Kamel outside their family home.

“But if we can stop the Israeli settler extremism, and the vandalism and 
violence … I just want to save [al-Baten].”

According to The Times of Israel, six settlers were arrested for the 
incident, though no follow-up was offered.

“I expect that there won't be any results,” said Tafsha of the 
investigations. “In the end, they will come up with a million reasons 
for barbaric and terrorist actions against our country.”

Instead, residents told Al Jazeera later, Israel detained three 
activists and a boy from Mazraa. Soldiers pulled one of the activists 
out of an ambulance, detained him, then released him later.

Having no faith in the Israeli justice system, Kamel is calling for the 
US Department of State to launch an investigation itself.

The July 11 lynching was the culmination of an escalation in settler 
encroachment on Sinjil lands that had taken place in the last three 
months. In April, the first of three settler outposts was built in 
al-Baten, and settler attacks ensued immediately.

Between January 2024 and June 2025, at least 35,969 Palestinians were 
displaced across the occupied West Bank.

The vast majority - 29,338 people, or 82 percent - flee violent Israeli 
military raids.

An additional 2,825 (8 percent) were displaced due to home demolitions 
and 1,133 (3 percent) as a result of settler violence.

Some 2,673 (7 percent) people lost their houses because Israel said they 
did not have building permits, which are known to be nearly impossible 
to get if you're Palestinian.

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Sinjil, Mazraa and al-Baten are split between Areas A, B and C. Area A, 
according to the Oslo Accords, is under the Palestinian Authority’s 
security and civil control, while Area B is under Palestinian civil and 
Israeli military control and Area C is under full Israeli military control.

The initial attacks that day occurred in Area A, according to locals.

The vast majority of illegal settlements and outposts, and attacks on 
Palestinians by the settlers living there, are in Area C, under full 
Israeli military and civil control.

Since April, Israeli settlers have been prowling the land, attacking 
Palestinian villagers with sticks or weapons and setting Palestinian 
groves on fire.

Today, much of the fertile land on al-Baten’s rolling hills stands 
blackened and untended, its owners afraid to go there.

INTERACTIVE - Occupied West Bank Saif Mohammad killed setter Israel 
upload-1755183890(Al Jazeera)
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