U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday he had asked Israel to "aggressively investigate" the killing of a Palestinian American who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank,

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Tuesday called on Israeli authorities to "aggressively investigate" the killing of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old Palestinian-American who was reportedly beaten to death by a gang of extremist settlers in the West Bank village of Sinjil on Friday.

Relatives paid their respects on Sunday at the funerals of a Palestinian-American and his friend killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israeli settlers killed a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and an eyewitness, as settler violence against Palestinians ramps up in the occupied territory.

Palestinian authorities and family members said Israeli settlers beat and killed a Palestinian-American man. Israel said the violence began when Palestinians threw stones at Israeli civilians.

Florida-born Sayfollah Musallet, 20, was beaten to death while visiting family in the West Bank. A second man was found dead with a gunshot wound.

Israel’s defense minister said he told the military to advance plans for what he called a “humanitarian city” built on the ruins of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to reports in Israeli media.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a platform to destroy Israel and for that reason sovereign power of security must remain with Israel.

If many countries choose to recognize Palestine but fail to confront the reality of escalating Israeli domination of the occupied territories, recognition could prove seriously counterproductive. If formal recognition becomes a substitute for defending the primacy of international law and addressing the core realities of Palestinian suffering,