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In a heartbreaking turn of events, a Turkish-American woman was shot and killed on Friday while protesting against Israeli settlements in the West Bank town of Beita. The Israeli army has confirmed they fired shots during the demonstration.
Turkey identified the woman as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, saying she was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers” and has condemned her death. The mayor of Beita and the Palestinian news agency Wafa also reported that she was killed by Israeli soldiers.
Eygi, who was in her mid-20s, arrived at Rafidia hospital in Nablus with a gunshot wound to her head. The hospital director, Fouad Nafaa, said she was declared dead around 2:30 PM local time.
While, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called Eygi’s death “tragic” but didn’t say who was responsible.
Eygi was part of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group that supports Palestinians. She was in Beita to join a regular protest against Israeli settlements, according to Neta Golan, one of the group’s founders.
Beita is a small town where there are often clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters. The area frequently becomes a hotspot in the conflict over Israeli settlements, which are built on land that Palestinians want for their future state.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where about 490,000 people live, are considered illegal by international law. The United Nations sees them as a barrier to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Since the attack by Hamas on October 7, which started the current war in Gaza, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 661 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
During the same time, at least 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been kil