Family of U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank demands independent investigation into her death

The family of Aysenur Eygi, an American woman who was shot and killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, is demanding an independent investigation into her death.

Witnesses, activists and Palestinian media said the dual U.S.-Turkish national was shot by Israeli troops while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank, near the town of Beita. 

Palestinian medics rushed Eygi to an ambulance, but by the time she got to the hospital, it was too late.

“They killed her. They shot her in the head,” a woman told CBS News.

Jonathan Pollak, with the Defend Palestine activist group who was participating in the protest, told CBS News that IDF forces fired two shots from a distance of 150 or 200 yards during the protest attended by the American woman. He said the first bullet hit a local boy in the thigh and the second hit the U.S. demonstrator, who was standing under an olive tree.

“I saw her lying on the ground under an olive tree. Bleeding to death. I looked up and I saw a clear line of sight to the soldiers,” he said. 

Eygi, who was raised in Seattle, arrived in the West Bank days before her death to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, which helps young foreigners support Palestinians. Pollack helps train them.

She was attending a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion that has been held for years and has often brought Israeli crackdowns and protester stone-throwing.

According to a statement from the BBC released by her family on social media, Eygi had just turned 26 and graduated three months ago from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures. Her family said she was “compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence.”

“A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter,” the statement says. “We call on President Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.”

“We deplore this tragic loss,” Blinken said during a Friday visit to the Dominican Republic, adding that when the U.S. government had more information, “we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we’ll act on it.”

Asked about the incident, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops operating near Beita had “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.” 

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

At least three activists from the International Solidarity Movement have been killed since 2000.

contributed to this report.