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By Ray Hanania
As the one-year anniversary of the killing of an American Arab Khamis Ayyad by Israeli settlers approaches, 24 members of the U.S. Congress expressed frustration in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche they and the victim’s family have not received answers or reassurances on the safety of Americans.
In the letter dated April 23, 2026, the representatives expressed “grave concern” not enough is being done to protect Arab Americans of from rising violence by Israelis, noting unanswered questions also remain regarding the killing of eight other Americans, all Palestinian, by Israeli soldiers or settler suspects.
Signed by two dozen members of Congress including Delia Ramirez (3rd-IL), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (4th-IL), Mike Quigley (5th-IL), Mark Pocan (2nd-WISC), Ro Khanna (17th-CA), and Pramila Jayapal (7th-Washington State), the letter demands the guilty parties be brought to justice and that Americans be protected in Israel and in the occupied territories.
“We write with grave concern regarding the killing of U.S. citizen Khamis Ayyad, who died from smoke inhalation on July 31, 2025 after Israeli settlers set fires to homes and cars in the town of Silwad. Mr. Ayyad was the second U.S. citizen killed in the occupied West Bank in less than a month—after 20-year-old Saifullah Musallet was beaten to death by Israeli settlers on July 91—and one of nine Americans killed there since January 2022,” the letter states.
“The U.S. government is charged with protecting its citizens abroad, and must conduct a thorough, credible, and independent investigation into Mr. Ayyad’s death. Khamis Ayyad was a 40-year-old married father who raised his five children in Cicero, Illinois.”
The congressional letter expresses concerns that the U.S. Government has failed to hold any suspects accountable in Ayyad’s killing or in seven of the eight prior killings of American Arabs by Israelis.
The other eight American Arab victims since 2022 were identified in the letter as: Saifullah Musallet, Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Assad, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Amer Mohammad Saada Rabee, and Nasrallah Abu Siyam.
In a response, Congressman Quigley urged Israel to “stop settler violence” and called for an immediate investigation by the U.S. government.
“Khamis Ayyad, a 40-year-old father who raised his five children in Cicero, Illinois, is the second U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank in less than a month. I am proud to join Rep. Chuy Garcia in calling on the State Department and Department of Justice to investigate his death,” Quigley said.
“His family deserves to know the truth. And the U.S. government has an obligation to protect American citizens abroad. This also means calling on the Israeli government to stop settler violence in the West Bank and move toward a two-state solution.”
Requests for comments from other congressional signatories went unanswered.
Questions about the killing of Ayyad last year were first raised by Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid (21st District), the only Palestinian member of the Illinois General Assembly. Rashid called it “unacceptable” that no answers have been provided to the families of the Ayyad or the families of the eight other American Arabs, all of Palestinian heritage, who were killed.
“I’m grateful to Congressman García and his 23 colleagues for demanding what the Ayyad family has asked for from the beginning: a credible, independent U.S. investigation into the killing of an American citizen,” Rashid said.
“Khamis raised his five children in our community. He died last summer trying to help his neighbors during an Israeli settler terror attack in the West Bank. His family deserves answers and the perpetrators must be held accountable.”
Rashid said Israel’s government, military and settler movement must be held accountable for the killing of Ayyad, who lived in Rashid’s state legislative district, and for all Americans who are injured or killed by Israelis. He said the U.S. Government must make it a priority to investigate each and every killing when the victims are American citizens and hold the guilty parties accountable for the crimes.
According to the letter, Mr. Ayyad’s family was awakened in the early morning hours on July 31, 2025, when Israeli settlers set fire to cars outside his home in a series of settler attacks on Palestinian villages.
“Witness reports indicate that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later arrived at the scene and fired live rounds and tear gas. Mr. Ayyad’s family alleges he lost consciousness while trying to extinguish the fire and later died on his way to the hospital,” according to the letter.
Rashid and members of Congress said State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce the government was looking into the Ayyad killing and all of the killings.
The letter set an April 30, 2026 deadline for Rubio and Blanche to provide answers. Representatives for Rubio and Blanche did not respond to requests for comments.
The letter seeks answers to six specific questions about Ayyad’s killing and the killings and safety of Americans in Israel and the Occupied West Bank, including: will the U.S. Government conduct its own “thorough, credible and independent investigation;” will the families of Ayyad and the other eight victims receive “accountability” and answers; and, what steps are being taken to prevent the “surge in Israeli settler violence?”
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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