American woman fatally shot in the West Bank, doctors say

NABLUS, West Bank — An American woman was shot and killed in the West Bank on Friday, two doctors told The Associated Press.

Dr. Ward Basalat said that the 26-year-old woman was shot in the head and died after arriving at a hospital.

Witnesses and Palestinian media reported that the woman was shot by Israeli troops while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately comment on the shooting.

Dr. Fouad Naffa, the head of the hospital, also confirmed the death of an American citizen.

The woman was believed to have been shot while attending the protest against settlement expansion in the Palestinian town of Beita, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The protests happen regularly and have grown violent in the past. A month ago, American citizen Amado Sison was shot in the leg by Israeli forces, he said, as he tried to flee tear gas and live fire.

Basalat, an emergency room doctor at the hospital, said he treated her for a gunshot wound to the head and that she died shortly after arrival.