Turkish-American activist dies after being shot by Israeli forces in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, in the head with live ammunition in Beita in the West Bank city of Nablus. Eygi was seriously injured while participating in an anti-settlement protest over the weekend.

During the incident, Israeli forces used live bullets, sound bombs, and tear gas against the protesters. Israeli forces shot Eygi in the head and took her to Rafidiya State Hospital in Nablus, but all interventions failed to save her.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, born in Antalya in 1998, has U.S. citizenship. She was an active participant in the Faz’a campaign to protect Palestinian farmers. Eygi is the third International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer to be killed by the Israeli forces. Previous ISM volunteers Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall were also killed in similar circumstances in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

The U.S. State Department expressed condolences and said it was seeking more information regarding the circumstances of her death. “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,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Miller described Eygi’s death as “tragic” but stopped short of assigning responsibility.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern over the death of Turkish-American citizen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, vowing that the U.S. would take appropriate action once more information is available. “We deplore this tragic loss,” Blinken said during a press conference in the Dominican Republic. “When we have more info, we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we’ll act on it.”

White House also claimed to be “deeply disturbed” and requested Israel to investigate the shooting.

A prominent Muslim-American advocacy group has condemned the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces in the West Bank. “We strongly condemn the Israeli apartheid government for murdering American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi while she peacefully protested its human rights abuses in the Occupied West Bank,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, National Deputy Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a statement to Anadolu Agency. Mitchell called on the Biden administration to condemn the killing, prosecute those responsible, and halt military aid to Israel.

In its response, the Israeli army stated that its forces were responding to what they described as a “main instigator” of violent activity and claimed that Eygi had posed a threat by throwing rocks. The army added that it was investigating reports that a foreign national had been killed during the incident.

Eygi’s death has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinian officials and activist groups. Ghassan Daghlas, the governor of Nablus, decried the incident, calling it an example of “American bullets killing an American,” in reference to U.S. military support for Israel. Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee secretary general Hussein al-Sheikh called for those responsible to be held accountable in international courts, adding that Eygi’s death was “another crime added to the series of crimes committed daily by the occupation forces.”

Meanwhile, Hamas condemned what it described as a “heinous crime” committed by the Israeli army, drawing parallels between Eygi’s death and the killing of Rachel Corrie, an ISM volunteer who was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003.