An American woman was shot and killed Friday by Israeli soldiers, a witness said, during a pro-Palestinian protest of Israeli settlers on the West Bank.
The director of Rafidia Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus told the Reuters news agency the woman was brought to the hospital in critical condition with a head wound.
"We were trying to save her, but unfortunately, we couldn't revive her heart because of her severe injury and then we announced she lost her life," Fouad Nafaa said.
The woman has been identified as 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, described as a Turkish-American activist.
A paramedic at the scene, Faiz Abdel Jabar, described for Reuters what happened at the protest in the town of Beita, not far from Nablus, where demonstrations have been occurring regularly and recently growing more violent.
“As usual we have a Friday prayer at the Jabal Subaih, the foreign activists also joined us,” he said. “The [Israeli] army arrived, and they shot two bullets, one targeted a young man, and it was fine, and the second one was shot in the head of the foreign activist."
At a joint news conference in the Dominican Republic, along with Dominican President Luis Abinader, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed the deepest condolences on behalf of the U.S. government to Eygi’s family.
Blinken said the U.S. deplores this tragic loss and that the U.S. is focused on gathering the facts of the shooting.
“First things first, let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that,” Blinken said.
“As you have heard me say many times before, I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens around the world, wherever they are. It's something I take with the utmost seriousness. When we have more info, we’ll share it, make it available and if necessary, we will act on it.”
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett also issued a statement.
“We are deeply disturbed by the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, today in the West Bank and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones,” the statement said. “We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask for more information and request an investigation into the incident.”
Israel Defense Forces released a statement regarding the incident on its X and Telegram social media accounts, saying: “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 said.
The incident comes as the Israeli military pulled out of the city of Jenin and its three refugee camps early Friday following a 10-day operation in the occupied West Bank. Fighting in Jenin accounts for the deaths of 21 of 39 Palestinians who local health officials say were killed during the Israeli operation. The military says most have been militants.
In a video interview with The Associated Press, Jenin Governor Kamal Abu al-Rub confirmed the withdrawal, calling it the most destructive incursion by the IDF yet. The video showed destroyed and damaged buildings and streets filled with rubble.
While not confirming the withdrawal, the IDF issued a statement Friday summarizing its “counterterrorism operations in Jenin,” saying there were “14 terrorists eliminated, over 30 suspects apprehended, approximately 30 explosives planted under roads [that were] dismantled.”
The statement went on to say, “numerous terrorist infrastructure sites have been dismantled, including an underground weapons storage facility located beneath a mosque, and a lab used to manufacture explosives.”
Israeli fire has killed nearly 700 Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials say, since the war started in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The militants killed about 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages. Israel said it believes Hamas is still holding about 100 hostages, including 42 the military says are dead.
Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but does say most of the dead are women and children. Israel says that most of the dead are combatants.
“The terrorist Wassem Hazem, head of the Hamas terrorist organization in Jenin, was also eliminated,” the statement said. “Hazem directed shooting and explosive attacks in the area of Jenin and was responsible for advancing terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.”
Hamas has been designated a terror group by the U.S., U.K., EU and others.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
