STORY: Palestinian paramedics in the Israeli-occupied West Bank carried the body of a Turkish-American woman to an ambulance Friday, after she was shot by Israeli troops while taking part in a protest against settlement expansion.
She later died of her wounds, according to Palestinian and Turkish officials.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot in the head, and blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for her death.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from Netanyahu’s office.
Israel’s military said troops had fired toward a male who posed a threat by hurling rocks at soldiers.
The head of the hospital where Eygi was taken told Reuters she arrived there in critical condition, with a serious head injury.
HEAD OF THE RAFIDIA HOSPITAL IN NABLUS, DR FOUAD NAFAA: “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.”
The Palestinian Authority’s official news agency said the incident occurred during a regular protest march by activists in Beita, a village that has seen repeated attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers.
Israeli activist Ran Naouz was there:
“We came here to stand in solidarity with the people of Beita against the expropriation of the lands, the mountain called the Jabal Subaih in order to build a colony on it, the colony of the Evyatar. We came here and peaceful demonstrations was violently oppressed by tear gas, by, by live ammunition…”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the death of an American abroad:
“We deplore this tragic loss. Now, the most important thing to do is to gather the facts. // Let’s find out exactly what happened. And we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that.”
The White House said it was deeply disturbed by the death of the dual U.S.-Turkish citizen and called on Israel to investigate.
