Israeli forces have fatally shot an American-Turkish activist at a demonstration in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa and a hospital official say.
Twenty-six-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was taking part in the protest against illegal Israeli settlements on Mount Sbeih in Beita, south of Nablus, on Friday when she was shot.
Fouad Nafaa, the head of the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, told the news agency Reuters that Ezgi Eygi arrived at the hospital in a critical condition with a serious head injury.
“We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately, she died,” he said.
Ezgi Eygi was shot when Israeli forces fired live ammunition, stun grenades and tear gas at demonstrators, Wafa reported, quoting local sources.
Jonathan Pollak, a witness, told Al Jazeera he found Ezgi Eygi “lying on the ground beneath an olive grove, bleeding to death.”
“I put my hand under her head to try and stop the bleeding and took her pulse. She had very weak pulse. We called the ambulance, and put her in the ambulance that evacuated her.”
Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas said “all legal measures” would be submitted to the International Criminal Court after the killing of Ezgi Eygi.
“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,” he told reporters.
The Israeli military issued a statement saying its forces had “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces who posed a threat to them”.
It said it was looking into reports “that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area”.
During the incident, an 18-year-old Palestinian sustained injuries to the thigh from shrapnel, Wafa reported.
US ‘urgently’ seeks information as Turkey condemns shooting
United States Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew said on X: “We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her [Ezgi Eygi’s] death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens.”
We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn…
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) September 6, 2024
US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said the US was “urgently gathering more information” and “will have more to say as we learn more”.
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in which it said by killing its citizen, “Israel is trying to intimidate all those who come to the aid of the Palestinian people and who fight peacefully against the genocide. 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,” the statement read.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed its “huge shock” following the killing in a post on X, saying “we know Israel will at best claim “we’ll investigate” & the international community will call on Israel to investigate itself”.
“This would be a tired sham; a stunt that we have seen countless times whenever the IDF [Israeli military] is caught red-handed. Only sanctions can deter such atrocities!” it said.
UK-Based Peace and Justice Project said in a post on X that the killing was a “result of an emboldened Israel, committing acts of ethnic cleansing with the support of UK and US governments”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a press conference that the organization wants to see a “full investigation of the circumstances” surrounding the incident and that “people should be held accountable”, adding that “civilians must be must be protected at all times”.
Ezgi Eygi was part of the International Solidarity Movement, which describes itself as a Palestinian-led movement “committed to resisting the long-entrenched and systematic oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian population, using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles”.
She was demonstrating against Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, which has spiked since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October.
The vast majority of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal, and US President Joe Biden’s administration says the settlements are “inconsistent with international law”.
But the US has provided diplomatic cover for Israel over the years with Washington consistently using its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to protect Israel from diplomatic censure.
