Family members of US citizens killed by the Israeli military and by settlers gathered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to demand answers, investigations and accountability from elected officials.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal hosted the families, who included relatives of Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, US-Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Palestinian-American teenager Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, US peace activist Rachel Corrie and Palestinian American Mohammed Ibrahim.
“I want to thank all of these family members who are sharing the stories of their loved ones and insisting that we do not rest until we get justice for all of those who have been murdered,” Ms Jayapal said.
She said Ms Eygi, who lived in her congressional district, was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier last September while protesting in the occupied West Bank.
Ms Jayapal said that despite the promises of the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, there still has not been any accountability for Ms Eygi's death.
“He promised that he would get answers but we have not heard anything back from his office as we've tried to follow up,” she told reporters, saying it was time for Mr Huckabee to “step up” and follow through on his promise.
Hamid Ali, Ms Eygi's husband, told The National that he wants to make sure the soldier who shot his wife is punished.
“They need to face some sort of punishment for what essentially was an extrajudicial killing, and action also needs to be taken against the unit commander who allowed it to happen,” he said.
Mr Ali said some US politicians are also culpable for enabling Israel with weapons. He and other family members at the news conference planned to visit congressional offices to lobby for answers and investigations into the deaths of US citizens in and around Gaza.
Israel's continuing military campaign in Gaza – which followed the October 2023 attack by Hamas-led fighters on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw 240 hostages taken – has killed almost 65,000 people and injured more than 165,000.
Kamel Musallet, the father of Sayfollah, 20, who was beaten to death during a settler attack on a village in the occupied West Bank, also addressed supporters.
“He was just starting his life and built a successful ice cream shop in Tampa [Florida],” Mr Musallet said.
“Now, instead of providing my son with guidance on his next steps in life, I am here today demanding justice and accountability for his brutal murder by Israeli settlers."
He said his son felt relatively safe while visiting the volatile area because of his US passport.
“Yet here I am, demanding justice for the murder of my American son,” Mr Musallet said.
Sayfollah Musallet is among more than 900 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza began.
Also at the news conference, questions lingered about what appears to be the indefinite imprisonment of US citizens in Israel.
Zeyad Kadur, the uncle of Mohammed Ibrahim, who has been held in Israel's Ofer prison since February, recently observed his 16th birthday behind bars.
Mr Ibrahim was accused of throwing rocks at Israeli settlers, which he denies.
“He was ripped away from his family, blindfolded, handcuffed and taken out by 25 soldiers, thrown in the back of a Jeep, and we never saw him again,” Mr Kadur said.
“Everything we know, we know from the US State Department, and that information comes in small bits and pieces every couple of months.”
Mr Kadur said he is very concerned about his nephew's health.
Some of those speaking in front of the US Capitol on Tuesday have been demanding answers, accountability and justice from Israeli officials for more than two decades.
“On March 16, 2003, my daughter, Rachel Corrie, a human-rights activist and observer, was killed in Rafah in the Gaza Strip as she stood non-violently to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family's home,” said Cindy Corrie.
She said the Israeli government's initial investigative report on her daughter's death is still closely guarded, with only a select few able to read it.
Israeli authorities declined to charge anyone for Ms Corrie's death, after she was crushed by a bulldozer.
“There ought to be consequences when countries that receive US military aid use that assistance in contravention of US law and fail to address potential human rights violations,” Cindy Corrie told reporters.
