File photo of US citizen Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was reportedly shot by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank | Photo credit: AP
reportedly shot by Israeli soldiers An American woman protesting was killed During protests against settlements in the West Bank on Friday, the United States government confirmed the death of Ayşenur Egi but did not say whether the recent graduate of the University of Washington, who was also a Turkish citizen, was shot by Israeli soldiers.
The White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing of an American citizen and asked Israel to investigate the incident.
According to two witnesses, she was shot when she posed no threat to Israeli forces and in a moment of calm following clashes in the afternoon. Two Palestinian doctors said the 26-year-old woman from Seattle was shot in the head.
The Israeli military said it was investigating reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at “inciters of violent activity” in the protest area.
The killing comes amid escalating violence in the West Bank, including Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and a heavy military crackdown on Palestinian protests.
Eigi, a volunteer with the activist group International Solidarity Movement, was taking part in a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion that has been held for years and often leads to Israeli repression and stone-throwing by protesters.
Jonathan Pollack, an Israeli who took part in Friday’s protests, said the shooting came as dozens of Palestinian and international activists were holding communal prayers on a hill outside the northern West Bank city of Beita, opposite the Israeli settlement of Evyatar.
Mr. Polak said troops surrounded the prayer ground and clashes soon broke out, with Palestinians throwing stones and troops firing tear gas and live ammunition.
He said the protesters and activists retreated and the clashes subsided. He then saw two soldiers standing on the roof of a nearby house point a gun in the direction of the group and open fire.
He said he saw Iggy “lying on the ground near an olive tree, covered in blood.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was “intensely focused” on finding out what happened and “we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that.”
In a post on Twitter, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned the killing by the Israeli government. Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said Turkey would work to ensure that those who killed our citizen are brought to justice.
Human rights groups say Israeli soldiers who kill Palestinians or their foreign supporters are rarely held accountable. The Israeli military says it investigates such cases and takes action if criminal wrongdoing is found.
Published – September 07, 2024 01:21 PM IST