Letter seeks U.S. investigations into deaths of nine citizens
The lawmakers’ letter says President Donald Trump’s decision on his first day back in office to rescind sanctions imposed on more than 30 settlers and organizations linked to violence had significant consequences. The letter says ending those sanctions sent a “clear message” that settlers could use “violent and deadly force with impunity” against Palestinians and Americans while seizing land.
The letter argues that Trump’s pledge last year — “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank” — has been undermined by developments there. The lawmakers write that “violent settlers and the [Benjamin] Netanyahu government have proceeded to rapidly extend Israeli control over civilian populations in the region.”
They are asking the administration to use “all the diplomatic and economic tools at its disposal, including restoring sanctions, to end this violence and expansion of settlements.”
The letter cites United Nations figures showing 1,835 attacks on Palestinian communities and property during 2025, which it describes as the highest number since records began. It also says the UN has reported that the current pace of settler attacks this year is higher than in any year on record.
The lawmakers highlight repeated attacks on Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian town where most residents are U.S. citizens. Those attacks include the burning of a family home belonging to Americans from Massachusetts and Washington state.
The letter says four U.S. citizens have been killed by Israeli settlers or security forces in the West Bank since Trump returned to office, bringing the total since 2022 to nine. The victims it identifies include Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh; 14-year-old Amer Mohammed Rabea; 17-year-olds Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour; 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet; 78-year-old Palestinian American Omar Assad; and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.
The lawmakers say the Justice Department has authority to independently investigate the killings of Americans abroad but “has reportedly not opened investigations into any of the killings since 2025.” They also say Israel has not indicted anyone involved in the incidents.
The letter raises separate concerns about U.S. citizens detained by the Israeli military, including 20-year-old Sama Safi and Mohammed Ibrahim, whom the lawmakers say was detained for nine months while he was 15. The letter alleges that Safi’s access to vital medication was interrupted after her arrest. It calls for her immediate release and urges the administration to “push for the end of unjust and arbitrary detentions in the territory.”
The lawmakers also point to attacks on Taybeh, which the letter describes as “the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank.” U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described an earlier attack there as “an act of terror” and said those responsible would be prosecuted. The letter says no one has been arrested in connection with those crimes.
The letter says Israeli security forces and settlers have attacked and displaced Palestinians in the West Bank “at an unprecedented rate” since the Trump administration took office. It attributes a “climate of impunity and unbridled violence towards civilian populations and religious minorities” in part to Washington’s “deference to the Netanyahu government.”
The lawmakers seek responses by Aug. 17 on investigations into attacks on Americans, the lifting of sanctions and the treatment of U.S. citizens detained by the Israeli military.
The signatories include Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray, Jack Reed, Bernie Sanders, Brian Schatz, Adam Schiff, Chris Van Hollen, Peter Welch and Ron Wyden. House signatories are Katherine Clark, Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Seth Moulton, Ayanna Pressley, Jake Auchincloss, Stephen Lynch and Lori Trahan.