Some members of the US Congress have called for investigating the death of Palestinian-American citizen Omar Asaad at the hands of Israeli soldiers and announced their support for local demands in this regard.
The Congress members announced on social media their support for a US investigation into the death of Assad who reportedly died last month after being assaulted by Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint.
“Israeli soldiers’ cruel treatment of US citizen Omar Assad was inhumane—they abused him then left him to die in the cold without medical attention” Congressman Jesus Chuy Garcia said in tweets.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib also tweeted that she is joining Senator Tammy Baldwin and Congresswoman Gwen Moore in asking the Biden administration to investigate the 78-year-old former Milwaukee grocer’s January 12 death.
Congressman Andre Carson also joined his colleagues’ call tweeting that Asaad’s “loved ones deserve answers and any act of wrongdoing demands accountability.”
In a related context the Hebrew Kan channel reported that US ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides met on Friday with Israeli army chief of staff Aviv Kohavi and discussed with him the results of the Israeli investigation into the death of Asaad.
According to the channel Kohavi expressed regret over the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man who suffered a heart attack after being bound gagged and abandoned at a construction site in the middle of a cold spell by Israeli soldiers last month.
Kohavi also confirmed to Nides that a criminal investigation into the incident was ongoing and that disciplinary actions had already been taken against the officers involved.
Asaad’s death sparked a sharp response from the Biden administration with the State Department emphasizing in multiple statements issued on the matter that it takes the safety of its nationals abroad very seriously.
Even after the Israeli army’s internal probe the US continued to call for a “thorough criminal investigation.”
US President Joe Biden’s administration said recently that it remained “deeply concerned” by Asaad’s death. “The United States expects a thorough criminal investigation and full accountability in this case and we welcome receiving additional information on these efforts as soon as possible” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
