West Bank
American Aysenur, 26, was shot dead by the IDF in the West Bank
Trifeh Amini
Updated 19.38 | Published 15.11
She demonstrated peacefully against illegal settlements but was nevertheless shot by a sniper, witnesses say.
- Israel is killing American activists with American weapons, said the governor of Nablus in a video directed at Biden.
American-Turkish Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, died on Friday after being shot by the Israeli military in the West Bank, reports the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
She was shot in the head by the IDF while participating in a demonstration in the city of Beita against the illegal settlements in the West Bank. The city of Beita has recently been subjected to several violent attacks by Israeli settlers.
Demonstrated peacefully
The IDF writes on X that they "responded with fire against a main instigator of violent activity who threw stones" and that they are investigating the incident.The organization International Solidarity Movement, of which Aysenur was a member, denies the IDF's claim in a press release. A person from the organization who was there with Aysenur and witnessed the incident says that they demonstrated peacefully but that the situation escalated when the Israeli army started firing at them with tear gas and live ammunition.
- We were standing on the road, about 200 meters from the soldiers, with a sniper clearly visible on the roof. Our fellow volunteer stood a little further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army deliberately shot her in the head, says the witness.
Fouad Nafaa, head of the Rafidia hospital in Nablus where Aysenur was taken, told Reuters she arrived at the hospital in a very critical condition.
- We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately she died, he told Wafa.
"Killed by American weapons"
In a video recorded in front of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi's dead body, the governor of Nablus, Ghassan Douglas, addresses US President Joe Biden.- Israel kills American activists in the Palestinian territories with American weapons, he says.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry is calling her death a murder.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller lamented Aysenur's death but did not make any accusations in his statement.
- We are immediately gathering more information about the circumstances surrounding her death, and will have more to say when we know more, he said according to Reuters.
Settler violence is increasing
In recent weeks, settler violence has increased in the West Bank, and in mid-August Israeli settlers carried out several violent and deadly attacks on Palestinians.On August 15, around 100 violent Israeli settlers stormed the village of Jit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to Reuters. The settlers were wearing masks and carrying weapons when they attacked, setting fire to vehicles and homes.
A 23-year-old Palestinian was shot dead and another was seriously injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
The Israeli military is regularly criticized by human rights groups and Palestinians for not preventing settler violence and even sometimes participating themselves, writes Reuters.
On August 28, Israel launched a military raid on the West Bank described as the largest in 22 years.
Several foreign activists killed
The organization ISM works to support Palestinians in the West Bank by witnessing and standing between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians to prevent violence against Palestinians.A notable case of the IDF's violence against foreign activists is the American Rachel Corrie, who was also part of the ISM. She was crushed by an Israeli armored bulldozer and killed in Gaza in 2003 while trying to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished.
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