Tears, demands for justice as U.S. woman shot in West Bank is mourned

Nablus, West Bank — A memorial procession was held Monday morning in the Israeli-occupied West Bank for Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old American activist who eyewitnesses say was shot in the head Friday by an Israeli soldier as she took part in a demonstration against Israeli settlement expansion in the Palestinian territory.

Eygi, a dual U.S.-Turkish national, graduated from the University of Washington in the spring. On Monday, her body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and carried through the streets of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, followed by dozens of mourners.

Her family has said she was a passionate human rights activist who felt compelled to come to the West Bank only days before she was killed to support the Palestinians amid soaring tension and increased violence in the territory being fueled by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the other Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army clashed with the demonstrators at the demonstration in the West Bank on Friday, as they have done previously at the regularly-held rally. The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that troops had fired back with live ammunition at protesters throwing rocks, and that it was investigating the circumstances of the shooting.

Eygi was shot once in the head.

"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," said Jonathan Pollack, who works with the International Solidarity Movement, which helps facilitate and train activists who come to the region in support of Palestinians, including Eygi.

Among those paying tribute on Monday to Aila, as Eygi was known to her friends, was Vivi Chen, another American who has volunteered with one of the organizations that recruits foreigners to stand with the Palestinians.

"We come here to try and stand in solidarity with them, to try and use, you know, what privilege we have with our passports," Chen said.

A statement released by Eygi's family, posted on social media by a friend, said she "was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter," adding a call for "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."

Blinken said Friday that U.S. authorities were still assessing the incident, but that when there was more information available, "we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we'll act on it."