US activist shot in head dies during West Bank protest – what’s new?

a An American activist with Turkish nationality died on Friday after being shot during a demonstration against settlements in the occupied West Bank in a town where the Israeli army admits to having opened fire.

Israeli forces launched a large-scale operation on August 28 in the West Bank, a territory occupied since 1967, where violence has increased since the war in Gaza between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas began.

A hospital in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, announced the death of the 26-year-old pro-Palestinian activist, who had entered the establishment with a gunshot wound to the head.

The activist, identified as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was taking part in the weekly peaceful march held in the village of Beta, in Nablus, against settlement expansion when Israeli forces cracked down on the protest with live ammunition, grenades and tear gas.

“As soon as we started the protest, the forces rushed in with tear gas and live ammunition. I moved away from the clashes and then I heard two shots,” said Jonatahn Pollak, an Israeli activist who took part in the protest, in a telephone conversation.

“I ran to her and saw her lying on the ground with very little pulse and bleeding heavily from the head,” he added.

I moved away from the point where the clashes were and then, I heard two shots.

According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, The young woman – who also had Turkish nationality – was shot by an Israeli soldier.

Ezgi Eygi was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where she was admitted to the intensive care unit. Medical efforts failed to save her due to severe head injuries, medical sources said.

An 18-year-old Palestinian was also wounded by shrapnel during the incident, Wafa reported.

Israel and the United States investigate what happened in the West Bank

The Israeli military said its forces near Beita “responded by firing in the direction of the main instigator of the violence, who had thrown stones at the (soldiers) and posed a threat to them.”

The military is “investigating reports of a foreign national killed as a result of the shooting” and “details of the incident,” the military a
dded in a statement.

The young woman was volunteering for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in a campaign aimed at protecting Palestinian farmers. from Israeli settlers. The same humanitarian organization where Rachel Corrie worked, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003.

The United States also called the death “tragic” and said it was urgently investigating the circumstances of the death. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States would act “as necessary.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, condemned Israel’s “savage intervention” during the demonstration.

The day, however, had begun with the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the city and refugee camp of Jenin in the north of the West Bank, after a ten-day incursion that left at least 19 people dead.

Although this withdrawal appears to be temporary, the army has warned that its troops “continue to act to achieve the objectives of the anti-terrorist operation” in the West Bank.

On August 28th, The army launched an “anti-terrorist” operation in this city, as well as in the northern cities of Tulkarem and Tubas, all historic strongholds of Palestinian militias. dubbed by Israel as “Operation Summer Camps.”

In total, 36 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes and hand-to-hand fighting between soldiers and militants, including eight children and two elderly people, according to figures from the Health Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, which governs shrinking parts of the occupied West Bank.

Israel, however, claims that during these raids they have managed to “eliminate some 35 terrorists” and arrest another 45. In addition, they have confiscated “dozens of weapons and explosives.”