American-Turkish human rights activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, succumbed to her wounds on Friday after being shot in the head by Israeli forces during a weekly protest against settlement expansions in the West Bank, according to Palestinian Authority-run news outlet Wafa.
During the weekly protest in Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, IDF soldiers opened fire at the protesters using live ammunition, the report noted. Eygi was subsequently critically wounded in the head. The 26 years old activist was evacuated to Rafida Hospital in Nablus, where she later died.
Fouad Nafaa, the head of the Rafidia Hospital, told Reuters that a woman arrived at the hospital in a very critical condition with a serious head injury.
“We tried to perform a resuscitation operation on her, but unfortunately, she died,” he said.
Wafa’s report noted that the IDF used live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protest in Beita, which, in addition to fatally wounding Eygi, caused shrapnel to injure an 18-year-old Palestinian.
Eygi was part of the Faz’a campaign, which supports Palestinian farmers against military and settler violations.
High tensions in Beita
The Israeli military said it was investigating the report. According to Reuters, the US embassy did not immediately comment.
Protests in Beita are frequent, with tensions high over Israeli settlement activities in the area, according to Wafa.
Another American activist killed
In March of 2003, American activist Rachel Corrie was killed in Rafah while attempting to prevent an IDF bulldozer from demolishing a home near the border with Egypt.
The IDF has a history of demolishing homes and infrastructure used by terrorists.
Nearly a decade later, a Haifa district court judge ruled that Israel was not responsible for Corrie’s death, noting that soldiers present at the time had done “everything they could” to prevent harm being inflicted on those at the scene.
A month after Corrie’s death, 22-year-old British activist and photography student Tom Hurndall was killed when he was shot in the head by Bedouin-Israeli IDF sniper Taysir Hayb.
Hurndall spent nine months in a coma before succumbing to his wounds.
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