US-Turkish dual citizen shot dead in Israeli-occupied West Bank

A dual US-Turkish national succumbed to her wounds on Friday after being shot in the head earlier in the day by Israeli military forces in the northern occupied West Bank.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was taking part in an anti-settlement march held by activists in the town of Beita, south of Nablus, when Israeli forces opened fire on them, reported WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency.

Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, smoke bombs and tear gas at the crowds, also injuring an 18-year-old demonstrator, according to WAFA.

Eygi was taken to the Rafidia Surgical Hospital in Nablus, where she was later pronounced dead. Hospital officials confirmed a bullet to the head as the cause of death, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency reported.

Hisham Dweikat, an anti-settlement activist from Beita who was at today’s demonstration, told Al-Monitor that Eygi was part of a large group of volunteers that go every Friday to protest against a proposed settlement. The group comes “every Friday and shows solidarity peacefully. There have never been confrontations, weapons or threats of killing, not to the soldiers nor to anyone," he said.

Dweikat added that the protesters were given no warning to disperse. “They fired the gas immediately."

He said that after the tear gas was fired, small clashes and skirmishes ensued. “Children were throwing stones; it was not directed" at anything, he said. 

About 30 minutes passed between when tear gas was fired and Eygi was hit, Dweikat said.

The Israeli military said it was reviewing the situation in a Friday statement reading, "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." 

"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," the statement went on.

Eygi was a volunteer with the local Faz3a initiative, a campaign launched in 2019 by activists to protect Palestinian farmers while harvesting their crops in the face of settler attacks. Anti-settlement protests like today's have become a weekly event as Israel has continued to expand settlements and attacks on Palestinians by settlers have increased.

🚨An American peace activist was shot and killed during a weekly protest in the West Bank village of Beta, near Nablus. 

These demonstrations, often met with live fire, highlight how under Israeli military rule, there is no legal way to protest peacefully. pic.twitter.com/ysc4O79FkA

— Etan Nechin (@Etanetan23) September 6, 2024

Born in the Turkish Mediterranean province of Antalya, Eygi held dual Turkish-US citizenship, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned "Israel’s barbaric intervention against a civilian protest against the occupation in the West Bank,” in a post on X.

“We will continue to work on every platform to end this occupation and genocide policy that has been going on for almost a year,” he added.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement in which it condemned "the Netanyahu government for the murder" of Eygi, saying, "Israel is trying to intimidate everyone who rushes to the aid of Palestinians and engages in peaceful resistance against the genocide."

The statement also tacitly addressed the United States. "The Israeli authorities, who commit crimes against humanity, and those who support them unconditionally, will certainly be held accountable before international courts," it read.

In the first comment by Washington on the incident, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, "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 more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens."

Eygi is at least the third US citizen known to have been killed in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza last October.

In February, Palestinian-American Mohammad Ahmad Alkhdour, 17, was reportedly shot twice by Israeli forces while driving his car near the town of Biddu, northwest of Jerusalem.

Earlier in January, another 17-year-old Palestinian-American national, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, was killed in similar circumstances. While driving along a highway in the northern West Bank, Jabbar came under fire by Israeli settlers, according to local reports, causing his car to overturn.

Washington condemned both killings, while Israeli police vowed to open investigations.  

Eygi’s killing comes as tensions in the West Bank remain high after Israel launched a major military operation against armed groups last week across the occupied territory.

In addition to daily military raids in its towns and villages, West Bank Palestinians have also experienced a rise in attacks by settlers since the outbreak of the Gaza war.

At least 1,264 incidents of settler violence — including armed attacks, harassment and destruction of property — took place between Oct. 7, 2023, and Aug. 12, 2024, the International Crisis Group said in a report released Friday, citing data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The violence in the West Bank has resulted in at least 652 Palestinians being killed between Oct. 7 and Sept. 2, OCHA said in a report on Wednesday. Of those, 634 were killed by Israeli soldiers and 11 by Israeli settlers. The remaining seven deaths were not attributed.

This developing story has been updated since initial publication.