Family of Palestinian American who died after detention calls for international investigation

The family of Omar Assad, a Palestinian American man who died last week after being detained by Israeli soldiers, has demanded an international investigation into his death. 

“We want justice,” 48-year-old Hala Hamad, who is Assad’s daughter, said, according to The Washington Post. “We want a thorough investigation from the U.S. government and the U.N. because [Israel] can’t investigate their own crimes.”

Assad was a Milwaukee grocery store owner. He died on Wednesday after Israeli soldiers stopped him in Jiljilya, a Palestinian village. He and his wife of 50 years had moved to the village, where Assad had grown up, in 2010 after spending their lives in the Midwest, according to the Post. 

The Israeli military said that it was investigating his death separately. A military official also said that Assad had been detained for resisting a roadside identification check but added that he was alive upon release soon after the incident, according to the Post.

While Palestinian officials said Monday the findings for Assad’s autopsy would not be released for several days, the State Department said it has asked Israel for “clarification” about the details of the circumstances surrounding Assad’s death, the Post added.