White House requests probe of American girl’s killing in West Bank

The family of a 26-year-old American citizen killed amid a protest in the occupied West Bank said an Israeli military shooter killed her, and said an Israeli investigation into the incident would not be enough.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a recent graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, was fatally shot during a demonstration in Beita on Friday, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), said.

Eygi’s family said, “Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter.”

“We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Aysenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate,” her family said in a statement.

“We call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties,” they said.

The White House said it has asked Israel’s government for more information and requested an investigation. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said they were “deeply disturbed” by Eygi’s death.

The ISM said Eygi was taking part in its weekly demonstration in the town of Beita, north of Ramallah, against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In a statement, the organization said the protest “primarily involved men and children praying” and was met with force by the IDF who fired tear gas before using live ammunition.

The ISM said Eygi was shot in the head and died shortly after she was taken to a hospital in Nablus. Eygi is the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020, and the only non-Palestinian, according to the ISM.

The Israel Defense Forces said it had been in the area next to Beita and “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.”

“The IDF is looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.” the IDF said. “The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.”

Eygi was a dual national, also carrying Turkish citizenship. In a statement, Turkey President Recep Erdogan said he condemned Israel’s “barbaric intervention against a civilian protest against the occupation in the West Bank.”

Eygi’s profile on social networking site LinkedIn says she was a psychology graduate with a minor in Middle Eastern languages and cultures, and that she was committed to under-served communities.

“I’m driven by a passion for making a positive impact and continuously seek opportunities to learn, grow, and contribute to meaningful projects,” she wrote.

The University of Washington in Seattle said that Eygi was a recent graduate, and UW’s president called news of her death “awful.”

“My heart goes out to Aysenur’s family, friends and loved ones,” President Ana Mari Cauce said in a statement. “Aysenur was a peer mentor in psychology who helped welcome new students to the department and provided a positive influence in their lives.”

Cauce said Eygi is the second member of the UW community to die in violence in the region. “I again join with our government and so many who are working and calling for a ceasefire and resolution to the crisis,” she said.

Eygi’s family said in the statement Friday that her killing is an “unimaginable tragedy,” and that she had just turned 26. “Aysenur was a loving daughter, sister, partner, and aunt,” they said.

“She was gentle, brave, silly, supportive, and a ray of sunshine. She wore her heart on her sleeves. She felt a deep responsibility to serve others and lived a life of caring for those in need with action,” the family said. “She was a fiercely passionate human rights activist her whole life–a steadfast and staunch advocate of justice.”

Eygi, who graduated from the university three months ago, had taken part in protests on campus while a student and then traveled to the West Bank.

“Aysenur felt compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence,” they said.

At least two other American citizens have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7. Mohammad Ahmed Mohammad Khdour, 17, was killed by IDF troops in February, and Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, 17, was killed by Israeli fire in January.

Israeli settlements have expanded rapidly over the past several years, with Israeli settler violence against Palestinians on the rise. In April, Human Rights Watch issued a report alleging that armed settlers forcibly and violently drove out Palestinian residents from at least five West Bank settlements “with the active participation of army units.”

Israeli forces are appearing to withdraw from the city of Jenin and other parts of the West Bank, where the IDF has been carrying out a deadly dayslong operation that has left ruin to neighborhoods across the city and beyond.

In Jenin, the IDF said at least 14 people they identified as terrorists had been killed, including Wassem Hazem, the head of Hamas’ presence in Jenin who they said had directed shooting and explosive attacks in the area.

More than 30 people were also taken into IDF custody as suspects, though the military did not expand on what they were suspected of.

Palestinian health officials had said Thursday that at least 39 people had been killed in the West Bank since Israel launched what it described as an operation to dismantle “terrorist cells” in the territory on Aug. 28.

Many of those killed have been claimed as members of militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, although the Palestinian health ministry has said at least eight children were also among those killed at the time.

“For over a week, Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics across the northern West Bank, deepening people’s humanitarian needs and raising concerns over excessive use of force,” the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a humanitarian update published Wednesday.

OCHA said that from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, Israeli forces had killed 30 Palestinians in the territory, including seven children, “marking the highest weekly death toll since November 2023.”

In 2022, Israel admitted that one of its soldiers fatally shot Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was covering raids in the occupied West Bank for Al Jazeera at the time. No one in the Israeli army has been prosecuted, and the military has not announced any disciplinary action.