The West Bank is a largely Palestinian territory, but hundreds of thousands of Israelis have built settlements there, which a United Nations court in 2024 said was illegal. The Biden administration imposed sanctions on Israel for the settlements, but the Trump administration rescinded them in January.

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, demanded “accountability for this criminal and terrorist act,” referring to the killing last week of Sayfollah Musallet in the occupied territories.