BREAKING: American Woman Shot and Killed by Israeli Gunfire in West Bank

The shooting occurred at the same weekly anti-settlement demonstration where Israeli forces shot a New Jersey teacher last month.

Photo: The Institute for Middle East Understanding

Israeli forces allegedly shot and killed US citizen Ayşenur Eygi this morning at a demonstration in the West Bank village of Beita according to eyewitnesses at the scene. The 26-year-old was there alongside other Americans who have been demonstrating against illegal settlement activity and providing a nonviolent protective presence for Palestinians.

Ayşenur, who went by Izgy and held dual citizenship with Turkey, was shot at the same weekly demonstration where American teacher and volunteer Amado Sison was shot last month. The shooting also follows Israeli settlers attacking American volunteers and Israeli forces throwing stun grenades at them. Eygi arrived three days ago as part of the International Solidarity Movement — the same group of which 23-year-old peace activist Rachel Corrie was part of; Corrie was killed in 2003 by an Israeli bulldozer. 

“We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and loved ones. We are urgently gathering more information about the circumstances of her death, and will have more to say as we learn more. We have no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens,” US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a statement.

"The very least to expect at the moment is a strong statement from President Biden, similar to what we heard after the horrific killings of the six Israeli hostages," said Hala Rharrit, the former Arabic language spokesperson for the US State Department, who resigned in protest of the Biden administration’s policy on Israel’s war on Gaza. "Every life should be equal, and we should hear the same condemnation from our president for the killing of this American citizen at the hands of what is reported to be the Israeli army."

On Friday, The White House said it is “deeply disturbed” by the “tragic death” and that it has reached out to Israel “to request an investigation into the incident.”

"This American citizen we understand was there volunteering in a peaceful, nonviolent capacity, and was tragically shot in the head. There needs to be a full investigation by the United States and by the FBI, that is our jurisdiction, we can no longer yield investigations to the perpetrators of the crime," Hala Rharrit told me, adding: "We have the full authority — the State Department has the authority to ask and determine the Israeli unit that was used to perpetrate this crime and we should use all extent of us law to find justice for this American citizen."

Israeli forces did not respond to requests for comment.

"If the American government and media took action after Amado got shot, her life could have been saved today. She was shot under almost exactly the same situation and context," Anthony, one of the American volunteers attacked earlier this week, told me on Friday morning.

With an edge to his voice, he noted how even at this moment a nearby village was facing an assault. “It’s very disheartening that the occupation doesn’t even give us a moment to mourn our loss of a fellow volunteer,” he said.

“This is the daily life here for everyone,” he added. “It’s hard to actually process or know the scale of emotion that I have inside me right now — and I can only imagine how much Palestinians feel, so I really don’t know what the right thing is to feel right now.”

Israeli violence is not coming from a vacuum, according to Yousef Munayyer, a political analyst and senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC. “These come after it became clear that the State Department was not going to be taking any action against the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which is responsible for the killing of an American citizen,” he told me.

“The consistent message from Washington is that some Americans matter more than others.” 

Rising Violence against Americans in West Bank 

After killing more than 40,000 Palestinians — and likely thousands more — Israeli forces have extended their assault on Gaza into the occupied West Bank. While doing so, they’ve also escalated violence against Americans there — left unabated by the American government.

This week, Israeli settlers allegedly attacked a shepherd in the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the West Bank — and then proceeded to beat and throw rocks at US citizens who were there to support the shepherd. The attack sent two Americans to the hospital, with one requiring stitches on her head. “I was so afraid that they were going to keep hitting my head and I was going to die from [a] head injury,” that victim told me, noting how another demonstrator came over to shield her. “So they started hitting him with sticks and with rocks. They hit him all over his body, and he took the brunt of the beat[ing], basically, for me. And so he basically saved my life.” 

Earlier in the week, dozens of settlers allegedly threw rocks and shot firecrackers at American demonstrators. Footage showed settlers throwing rocks at the Americans, as responding soldiers oscillated between coaxing the settlers to calm down (as they continued to throw rocks anyway) and pointing their loaded guns at the Americans. In other footage, Israeli soldiers are seen throwing stun grenades toward the Americans (who appeared to be complying with orders to back up, and also had self-identified as US citizens).

The Israeli police had referred me to the Israeli military, which did not respond to a request for comment. The US State Department, Israeli government, and US Embassy in Israel also did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Four weeks ago, Israeli forces shot an American teacher from New Jersey in the occupied territory. Amado was in the West Bank to also provide a protective presence to Palestinians. He was shot at the same weekly demonstration in Beita where Eygi was shot and killed on Friday morning. At the time, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and then-Sen. Robert Menendez, and Gov. Phil Murphy did not respond to requests for comment. The Harris-Walz campaign and the Biden-Harris White House also did not respond to requests for comment.

The attacks also follow the deaths of other US citizens, including teenagers Mohammad Khdour and Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, World Central Kitchen worker Jacob Flickinger, journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and non-violence activist Corrie, all killed by Israeli violence. 

“This has sort of been the message, and clearly the Israelis have gotten it,” Munayyer said. “They got it with Shireen Abu Akleh and the way that the Biden administration brushed that all under the rug and they’ve acted accordingly.”

The latest spate of violence against Americans is specifically against individuals volunteering to demonstrate against illegal settlement activity that the US is tolerating, if nothing else by virtue of continuing to give unconditional military aid to Israel. And now, even further, the US is barely uttering a word in response to the violence against the Americans.

“They’re incorporating Israeli apartheid into American policy,” Munayyer said about how the US is failing to support and protect even its own citizens.