Family of US citizen killed in West Bank calls for independent investigation into her death

The family of Aysenur Eygi, an American woman shot dead in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, calling for an independent investigation into her death.

Witnesses, activists and Palestinian media reported that the man, who had American-Turkish citizenship, was shot by Israeli troops while taking part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the Nablus region of the northern West Bank near the town of Beita.

Palestinian paramedics rushed Eygi to the ambulance, but by the time she reached the hospital it was too late.

“They killed her. They shot her in the head,” one woman told CBS News.

Jonathan Pollak, a member of the activist group Defend Palestine who attended the protest, told CBS News that Israeli forces fired two shots from a distance of 137 to 180 meters during the protest the American woman attended. He said the first bullet hit a local boy in the thigh and the second hit the U.S. protester who was standing under an olive tree.

“I saw her lying on the ground under an olive tree. She was bleeding to death. I looked up and had a clear view of the soldiers,” he said.

Eygi, who grew up in Seattle, came to the West Bank days before her death to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, which helps young foreigners support Palestinians. Pollack helps train these young people.

She took part in a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion that has been taking place for years and is often met with Israeli crackdowns and stone-throwing by demonstrators.

According to a statement her family posted on social media, obtained by the BBC, Eygi had just turned 26 and graduated three months ago from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages ​​and cultures. Her family said she was “forced to travel to the West Bank to show solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to suffer ongoing oppression and violence.”

“Aysenur, a U.S. citizen, was peacefully standing up for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military gunman,” the statement said. “We call on President Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and hold those responsible to account.”

“We regret this tragic loss,” Blinken said during a visit to the Dominican Republic on Friday, adding that as soon as the U.S. government has more information, “we will share it, make it available and, if necessary, respond to it.”

When asked about the incident, The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops operating near Beita “responded with fire to a key instigator of the violence who threw stones at forces and posed a threat to them.”

The Israel Defense Forces said they were “investigating reports that a foreign national was killed by gunfire from the area” and that “the details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are being examined.”

Since 2000, at least three activists of the International Solidarity Movement have been killed.

Elizabeth Palmer contributed to this report.