Palestinian-American Father of Five, Khamis Ayyad, Killed in West Bank Arson Attack, Family Reports

CICERO, Ill. (WLS) — The family of a Palestinian-American man with ties to the Chicago area say he was killed this week in the West Bank.

ABC News has reported several Americans have been killed there.

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Khamis Ayyad, who has a wife and five children, relocated his family to Cicero, Illinois. Around five years back, they moved back to the West Bank where he continued his work remotely for a U.S.-based company.

His family said he was killed amid the ongoing violence in the region while trying to save lives from fires believed to be arson.

Mourners cried in the streets of a town in the West Bank as they carried the body of Ayyad to his final resting place.

The 40-year-old man’s family said he died from smoke inhalation early Thursday morning local time.

The family alleges that Israeli settlers torched vehicles in their village during the night. However, Israel has not yet confirmed these allegations.

Ayyad woke up to help save lives from the growing flames.

“No retaliation from the Palestinian people, except to come out and try to put the fire out,” his cousin Mahmoud Issa said.

His relatives in the Chicago area expressed their sorrow publicly on Friday, joined by officials at the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“He died attempting to extinguish fires started by Israeli settlers,” said Illinois State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid of District 21. “It is reported that he succumbed to smoke and tear gas, reportedly fired by the Israeli military.”

“At CAIR-Chicago, we are urging the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into the death of a U.S. citizen overseas,” stated William Asfour with CAIR-Chicago.

ABC7 has reached out to the Israeli Consul General and the State Department for a comment but have not heard back.

Ayyad is notably the second American casualty in the West Bank during July and the fifth since the Hamas attack on Israel dated October 7, 2023, as reported by ABC News.