Tragedy in the West Bank: Israeli Forces Claim Life of 26-Year-Old Turkish-American Activist
Israeli Soldiers Kill Turkish-American Activist in West Bank Protest
Reuters
Palestinian and Turkish officials confirmed that Israeli soldiers shot and killed Turkish-American Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old activist from Seattle, who had been participating in a protest against the expansion of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 6.
The White House expressed deep disturbance over the death and called on Israel to investigate. Turkey’s foreign ministry stated that Eygi was shot in the head, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for her death.
Eygi, a recent graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures. Her family described her as a “fiercely passionate human rights activist” who had recently participated in college campus protests against US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Israeli army claimed that its soldiers fired at a male “main instigator” who was threatening by throwing rocks at soldiers. However, they are investigating reports that a female foreign national “was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.”
Fouad Nafaa, head of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, stated that Eygi arrived at the hospital in critical condition with a serious head injury. Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she unfortunately died.
The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency, WAFA, reported that the incident occurred during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village near Nablus that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers.
Eygi’s family called on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to pursue an independent US investigation into her killing. The White House National Security Council spokesman, Sean Savett, stated that Washington was “deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen” in the West Bank and has requested more information and an investigation into the incident.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen noted that Eygi was the third American killed in the West Bank since October 7, when a Hamas militant attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza and a resurgence of violence in the West Bank. Van Hollen criticized the Biden Administration for not doing enough to pursue justice and accountability on behalf of the victims.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan condemned Eygi’s death, stating that Turkey “will continue to work in every platform to stop Israel’s policy of occupation and genocide.” Israel denies that its actions in the occupied Palestinian territories amount to genocide.
I condemn Israel’s barbaric intervention against a civilian protest against the occupation in the West Bank, and I pray for God’s mercy on our citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who lost her life in the attack.…
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) September 6, 2024
In a separate incident on Friday near Beita, a 13-year-old girl was killed by Israeli gunfire, Palestinian health officials said, after settlers attacked the village. The Israeli army claimed that it was investigating after its troops fired in the air to disperse what it described as violent clashes between dozens of settlers and Palestinians in the area.
The increase in violent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank has fueled anger among Israel’s Western allies, including the United States, which has imposed sanctions on some Israelis involved in the settler movement.
Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel has occupied the West Bank of the Jordan River, which Palestinians want as the core of an independent state. Israel has built settlements there that most countries consider illegal, which Israel disputes citing historical and biblical ties to the land.