An amendment from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) that would have directed the State Department to investigate the killings of at least nine U.S. citizens in the West Bank since 2022 failed in the Senate by a 47-51 vote, according to Mediaite. The measure asked the department to send Congress a report no more than 30 days after adoption.
50 of the 51 Republicans who voted opposed the amendment. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the only Republican who voted for it. Every Democratic senator supported the measure except Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).
Van Hollen wrote on Bluesky, “Tonight, 47 Senators supported my resolution to get accountability for the 9 Americans killed on the West Bank & for Palestinians who face injustices daily. That’s more support than we’ve ever had in this fight. Republicans blocked us, but we won’t stop until we get justice.”
Van Hollen’s amendment named nine U.S. citizens and asked for a 30-day report
The amendment said protecting and supporting United States citizens abroad is one of the foremost responsibilities of the United States Government. It listed nine Americans it said were killed by violent Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank: Omar Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, Amer Rabee, Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, Khamis Ayyad, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam.
The text said those killings have been met by a lack of accountability from the Netanyahu government and an inability to secure justice by the United States Government. It then described each case that the Senate was being asked to have the State Department review. The deaths have fueled broader tensions over U.S. policy toward Israel, a situation that persists as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected a peace roadmap for Gaza.
Omar Assad, a 78-year-old United States citizen, died in January 2022 after he was stopped at a checkpoint in Jiljilya, the amendment stated. It said Israeli soldiers dragged him from his car and left him on the ground with his hands bound behind his back, gagged, and blindfolded, and that he died of a stress-induced heart attack.
Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist whom the amendment said some have called the “voice of a generation,” was shot in the head and killed near the Jenin refugee camp in May 2022, according to the text. It said Israeli security forces fired the shot while she wore a vest clearly marking her as a journalist.
The amendment said 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar was shot in the head and killed in January 2024 while driving east of Ramallah, reportedly by an Israeli settler, an off-duty Israeli police officer, and an Israel Defense Forces soldier. It said Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour, also 17 and an American, was shot twice in the head in February 2024 while driving near Biddu, reportedly by Israeli forces.
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old American raised in Seattle, was shot in the head in September 2024 by an Israeli soldier from a distance of 200 meters, the amendment stated. It said Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, a 14-year-old boy from New Jersey, was shot and killed in April 2025 at the entrance to Turmus Ayya by Israeli security forces, with reports suggesting he was shot a total of 11 times by two different guns.
Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, a 20-year-old American from Florida who was visiting family, was beaten to death in July 2025 by violent Israeli settlers during an attack on Sinjil, according to the amendment. It said eyewitness accounts report that settlers and Israeli forces impeded ambulance access for more than two hours. On July 15, 2025, Ambassador Mike Huckabee called the killing of Mr. Musallet a “criminal and terrorist act” and stated, “there must be accountability.”
The amendment said Khamis Ayyad, a 40-year-old Palestinian-American and father of five, died of smoke inhalation in August 2025 after violent Israeli settlers set homes and cars on fire during an attack on Silwad. It said Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a 19-year-old American born in Philadelphia, was shot and killed in February 2026 in Mukhmas, near Ramallah, by violent Israeli settlers during an attack on Palestinian farmers.
The same text also described an August 2026 incident in Turmusayya in which Khamis Rabee Jabara, an 82-year-old Palestinian American, was hospitalized after Israeli soldiers used a flashbang grenade against him and confiscated bystander footage.
Settler violence in the West Bank has been surging. Reports of Israeli settlers and soldiers violently seizing and demolishing Palestinian homes are rampant. These reports of violent seizures are part of a documented pattern, such as when Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village to seize a home with the owner still inside.
CNN reported in July that an Israeli settler pulled a knife on their crew in the West Bank just days after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) was detained by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the territory.
