Israeli Troops Kill Turkish-American Activist at West Bank Protest
Israeli troops shot and killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old Turkish-American activist, during a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank on Friday, according to Palestinian and Turkish officials. Eygi, who held both U.S. and Turkish citizenship and had recently graduated from the University of Washington, was participating in a demonstration in Beita when she was fatally injured. Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of responsibility for her death, while the White House expressed deep concern and called for an investigation.
Eygi, who was studying psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures, was described by her family as a passionate human rights advocate. She had been involved in various protests, including those against U.S. support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. The University of Washington’s president, Ana Mari Cauce, remembered her as a positive influence and peer mentor.
The Israeli military reported that troops fired towards a male protester they deemed a threat but acknowledged that a female foreign national was killed during the incident. The military is reviewing the circumstances of Eygi’s death. No immediate response was given by Netanyahu’s office.
In a related incident, a 13-year-old girl was also killed by Israeli gunfire in the village of Qaryut, near Beita, amid violent confrontations between settlers and Palestinians. The rise in violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has provoked international criticism and led to U.S. sanctions on some individuals involved in the settler movement.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan condemned the killing and vowed to work against what he called Israel’s policy of occupation and genocide. U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen criticized the Biden Administration for not doing enough to seek justice for American victims and called for a thorough investigation. Since the 1967 Middle East war, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been a contentious issue, with international condemnation of Israeli settlements which are widely considered illegal under international law.
