WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There's been a surge of attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers.

And on Friday, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American was beaten to death in the West Bank.

Saifullah Musallet is now the fifth American to be killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war in Gaza began.

As Stephanie Sy reports, the U.S. is now demanding accountability.

STEPHANIE SY: The body of a Florida native lifted above a throng of mourners in the West Bank, the scene Sunday, one all too familiar in the Palestinian territories, a procession of pain for the latest victims of Israeli settler violence.

A family friend closes the eyelids of Palestinian-American Saifullah Kamel Musallet.

He was only 20 and worked at his father's ice cream shop in Tampa.

He'd been in the West Bank for a few weeks for a family visit.

Last Friday, more than two dozen masked Israeli settlers attacked the nearby town of Sinjil, burning fields, throwing rocks and taking lives.

Musallet was beaten to death while protecting his family's land.

Relatives say settlers and Israeli soldiers prevented ambulances from reaching Saif for some three hours.

Killed in the same attack, 23-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Razek Hussein Al-Shalabi, Saif's friend.

He was found dead in an olive grove, shot in the chest.

A relative blamed Israeli policies for his loss.

SAMER AL-SHALABI, Relative of Mohammad Razek Hussein Al-Shalabi's (through translator): It's a continuous crime and continuous policy of the occupation to try and force Palestinians to leave their land.

The whole world is witnessing this crime, which all Palestinians are suffering from.

STEPHANIE SY: More Palestinians were injured last month in settler attacks than in any month over the last two decades, according to the U.N.. And there have been over 700 settler attacks just this year on Palestinians or their properties, nearly a 15 percent increase from the same time last year.

The town of Sinjil, where the killings occurred Friday, has been tense since Israeli forces began erecting a 16-foot-high barbed wire fence around the town in late April, reportedly cutting locals off from their lands and livelihoods.

But a stronger statement came from American Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, posting on X.

A longtime staunch supporter of Israel, the ambassador asked for an aggressive investigation into what he called Musallet's murder, adding: "There must be accountability for this criminal and terrorist act."

Since the war in Gaza began, five Americans have been killed in the West Bank.

No one has faced prosecution in any of the killings.

I'm joined now by Saifullah Musallet's cousin, Nizar Milbes, who is currently in Ramallah in the West Bank.

Nizar, first of all, thank you for joining us.

And I'm so sorry for the loss of your cousin.

Tell me what you know about what happened on Friday night, where Saif was and what happened leading up to his death.

NIZAR MILBES, Cousin of American Killed in West Bank: So for the last several weeks, the Israeli settlers have been encroaching on our lands, destroying property.

And so our town, Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, is a town that has about 65 percent American citizens.

Saif was attempting to access his land.

There's been coordinated ambushes by settlers that have encroached on the land, and he basically was attacked just basically trying to access his land.

STEPHANIE SY: Tell me what the family is going through right now.

NIZAR MILBES: I mean, they're obviously devastated and profoundly sad, but they have very strong faith.

They believe that this is God's will, but obviously they're very devastated.

He was a few weeks away from his 21st birthday.

He was full of life.

And he was just an amazing young man.

He was very, very -- had a very precious, kind, loving soul that you will ever meet, very well mannered, raised with profound morals.

He was a normal American young man, loved baseball, was a huge Tampa Bay Rays fan, and actually had just went to a game with his uncle prior to arriving.

And they're devastated.

STEPHANIE SY: I wonder if you will go into how much recent Israeli security operations, especially in Sinjil and that area, have affected livelihoods and sort of the overall sense of access to one's land in that area?

NIZAR MILBES: You know, the Israeli army frequents the area.

They're really there to protect the settlers.

And so a lot of people are intimidated.

There's not too much -- there's a lack of trust with the communities out here because they feel really just abandoned.

STEPHANIE SY: Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in West Bank violence and settler attacks in just the last few years.

And the attacks have been escalating.

But when an American is killed overseas, it's expected more will be done to seek justice.

Do you and the family have that expectation?

And what should the U.S. and Americans be doing?

NIZAR MILBES: As much as we trust in that the American government is there to protect the citizens, it's ultimately failed.

We hope that this time it's different.

We have gotten a call from the ambassador to the U.S. ambassador to Israel that promised an investigation, but fell short from guaranteeing that he will have the American law enforcement themselves be part of the investigation.

So we're not too optimistic.

STEPHANIE SY: And is there anything else that you would say Americans can do from afar to support you or your family?

NIZAR MILBES: The best thing to do right now is for Americans to demand an investigation.

Unfortunately, if you look at the statistics, only 3 percent of settler attacks have ever had any results of prosecutions for the perpetrators.

So we hope that this time is different, given that the circumstances of his death, the fact that he was beaten, and he was unarmed, and he was basically just on his land.

There was no confrontation.

He wasn't attacking anybody.

And we just hope that this time the outcome is different.

STEPHANIE SY: Nizar Milbes, thank you so much for joining us on the "News Hour," and sorry again for your loss.

NIZAR MILBES: Thank you for having me.