Turkish-American activist dies in occupied West Bank after being shot in the head

A 26-year-old American pro-Palestinian activist, also a Turkish citizen, was killed after suffering a gunshot wound to the head in the occupied West Bank, the director of Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, in the north of the territory occupied by Israel since 1967, reported on Friday, September 6. “An American solidarity activist (for the Palestinians) arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and we pronounced her dead at around 2:30 p.m.” local time, hospital director Fouad Nafaa told AFP.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the slain activist was part of an international solidarity campaign called “Fazaa”, involved in protecting Palestinian farmers from violence by Jewish settlers. According to the same source, the young woman was killed by an Israeli soldier’s gunfire in Beita, near Nablus. The Israeli army told AFP that it was “up to date with the information” that are circulating, but not being able to comment or react immediately.

On Friday, the United States said it was seeking “urgently more information on the circumstances” of the young woman’s death. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called her death a “tragic”without immediately attributing any responsibility. Turkey, for its part, condemned the “murder” of the pro-Palestinian activist, claiming that she had been killed by the “Israeli occupation soldiers”.

“We learned with deep sadness that our citizen named Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed by Israeli occupation soldiers in the city of Nablus (…) We condemn this murder committed by the Netanyahu government”the Turkish Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.