An American activist has been killed during an anti-settlement protest in the West Bank.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot in the head just days after arriving in the region as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.
Israel has confirmed its forces opened fire on a group while ‘responding to violent activity’.
It remains unconfirmed by officials if Eygi was struck by an Israel Defense Forces’ bullet, or if there were any other gunmen present. Eyewitnesses who were also part of the protest say only IDF had weapons.
‘We are deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysrnur Egzi Eygi, today in the West Bank and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones.,’ A White House National Security Council spokesman said.
‘We have reached out to the Government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.’
American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, has been killed during a protest in the West Bank
‘Today, during Israeli security forces activity adjacent to the area of Beita, the forces responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them,’ an IDF spokesman said.
‘The IDF is looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.’
Eygi was clinging to life as she was rushed to Rafida Hospital in Nablus, but stopped breathing on the way and succumbed to her injuries.
The Turkish-American citizen was a volunteer with the Faz3a campaign which works with Palestinian farmers demonstrating against Israeli settlements.
She arrived this week and had been attending a protest against Jewish settlement expansion in the Palestinian town of Beita, located 13 kilometers southeast of Nablus.
Paramedic Fayez Abdul Jabbar said the Israeli army fired two live bullets; one hit a foreign activist and the other hit an unidentified person whose injury is less severe.
Eygi, from Seattle, was a psychology graduate of the University of Washington with a minor in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Jonathan Pollak, an anti-Israeli activist who was also there, described how he tried to stem the bleeding from Eygi’s head.
‘I put my hand on the back of her head to try and stop the bleeding,’ he told the New York Times. ‘She had a very weak pulse.’
Fellow ISM volunteer going by the name Mariam Dag said the incident occurred amid a ‘peaceful demonstration’.
‘The situation escalated when the Israeli army began to fire tear gas and live ammunition, forcing us to retreat.
We were standing on the road, about 200 meters from the soldiers, with a sniper clearly visible on the roof.
Our fellow volunteer was standing a bit further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army intentionally shot her in the head.’
Cemal Birden, Eygi’s uncle, added that he had warned Eygi against travelling to the region.
‘My niece was such a pure, such a good kid,’ he said. Just last month, a US activist was shot in the leg by Israeli forces as they attempted to suppress a protest in Beita.
In October last year, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 17-year-old Palestinian Karam Dweikat in Beita during protests.
Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas condemned the latest death in a statement to Reuters.
‘This is her life, a foreign citizen holding American nationality … during peaceful popular protests,’ Daghlas said.
‘All legal measures will be submitted to the International Criminal Court,’ he added in a statement. ‘The bullets do not distinguish between a Palestinian, a child, a woman, or any nationality.’
‘Now her life is lost, she is an American citizen holding American nationality, which means Israel is crossing all lines,’ the governor continued.
‘We appeal to President Biden to stop all support to the occupying state because the occupying state is working hard to bomb hospitals and kill children and kill foreigners, including American nationals.’
The Turkish-American citizen was a volunteer with the Faz3a campaign which works with Palestinian farmers demonstrating against Israeli settlements. Pictured: Demonstrators sit before Israeli border guards during a previous protest vigil
Eygi, from Seattle, was a psychology graduate of the University of Washington with a minor in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures.
Her Linkedin states she was working as an undergraduate peer mentor at the university.
She born in Antalya, Turkey in 1998, but went to West Seattle High School according to her Facebook page.
The Turkish government issued a statement on Friday accusing Netanyahu’s government of ‘murder’.
‘Israel is trying to intimidate all those who come to the aid of the Palestinian people and who fight peacefully against the genocide,’ the statement read.
‘This policy of violence will not work. The Israeli authorities who commit crimes against humanity and those who unconditionally support them will be held accountable before international courts.’
Eran Maoz, 23, who was at the protest, refuted the IDF’s version of events, and claimed to have seen snipers setting up on a rooftop in Beita.
The IDF said its forced opened fire during the protest after a ‘violent’ instigator began throwing rocks. It has not confirmed its soldiers were responsible for Eygi’s death
‘There was no lead up to the firing of live ammunition, the army started firing bullets from the first moment.
‘At one point the army took control of a residential home in Beita and went to the roof. This was very far from the people who were shot at, these people posed no threat to the soldiers.’
Maoz says a child was also shot. Palestine’s government’s official news agency WAFA also reports that Bana Amjad Bakr, a 13-year-old girl was shot in her bedroom near Nablus, allegedly by Israeli forces. Israel is yet to confirm or deny the reports.
‘I was something like 100 meters from her, but my initial focus was on a child who’d been hit by fragments of a bullet after it had hit the ground near us.
‘I started screaming for the ambulance to come. I looked back and I saw he wasn’t the only person who was shot, but also this lady. She was shot in the head, lying there, not responding or moving.
‘Her head was covered in blood. The hands of the people who were helping her were covered in blood.’
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told the BBC the bureau is ‘urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death and will have more to say as we learn more’.
Eygi had only travelled to the region days before and was a volunteer with Faz3a, a campaign supporting Palestinian farmers against Israel’s expansion
‘We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank,’ the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, told the New York Times. ‘We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones.’
Protesters from the rally who have been demonstrating against Israel called for an international investigation.
Mohammed Khatib, a leading member of Faz3a, said they were calling for an international investigation into Eygi’s death.
‘There should be punishment for these soldiers who directly targeted and shot Aysenur,’ he said.
ISM and Faz3a are working together on a campaign called Defend Palestine to provide civil protection from Israeli violence.
‘Today they killed one of our volunteers. It’s a continuous policy of the Israelis to terrify all the people who are coming to help the Palestinians, to isolate the Palestinians from their supporters and to implement their policy of land transfer and the building of further settlements,’ said Khatib.
‘Today, like others. Aysenur gave her life for the Palestinian people. We as Palestinians are very emotional and very thankful to her and her family, who we send our deep condolences to.
‘We hope this situation will end and the occupation will end, and justice will prevail for Aysenur and all the others who were killed by these criminals from the Israeli side.’
It comes after Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from three refugee camps in Jenin in the occupied West Bank by Friday morning. Pictured: Mourners at the funeral of eight Palestinians died during the attacks
Residents of Beita recently resumed weekly Friday demonstrations against Israel’s settlements on Palestinian land, including an outpost at Evyatar.
While protests died down in the wake of October 7, they reignited in early July resulting in clashes.
It comes after Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from three refugee camps in the occupied West Bank by Friday morning, after a more than weeklong military operation that left dozens dead and a trail of destruction.