NABLUS (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – A Turkish-American woman was shot dead Friday while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank town of Beita, where the army acknowledged opening fire.
Turkey identified the woman as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, condemning her death, while the United States called it a "tragic" event, without immediately assigning responsibility.
The incident occurred as Israeli forces withdrew from a deadly 10-day raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, another flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, amid the ongoing Gaza war.
The raid, part of broader Israeli military operations, has drawn international criticism, with Israeli ally Germany warning against escalating military actions in the West Bank.
Eygi, in her mid-20s, was in Beita as part of a weekly protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- where some 490,000 people live -- which are illegal under international law.
The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident.
She arrived at the Rafidia hospital in Nablus "with a gunshot in the head" and was later pronounced dead, said hospital director Fouad Nafaa.
Turkey said she was killed by "Israeli occupation soldiers". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Israeli action as "barbaric".
"We deplore this tragic loss," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, while promising to act "as necessary".
Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation, and was in Beita for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, said Neta Golan, the group's co-founder.
'SERIES OF CRIMES'
Beita mayor Mahmud Barham said the incident occurred after a weekly Friday prayer performed in protest against an Israeli settlement outpost in the area.
He said he was told an Israeli soldier "fired two shots towards those who remained at the (demonstration) site, including the foreign activist, and that one of the bullets hit her in the head".
An ISM activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the shot that killed Eygi was "a shot to kill" and reported seeing "blood coming out of her head".
The Israeli army said its forces "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them".
The army was "looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired", it added.
Since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 662 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 23 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period, according to Israeli officials.
Responding to Friday's incident, Hamas strongly condemned "the crime committed by the Zionist occupation army" resulting in Eygi's death.
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, said on X that he extended condolences to Eygi's family.
"Another crime added to the series of crimes committed daily by the occupation forces, which require that their perpetrators be held accountable in international courts," he said.
JENIN PULLOUT
There was no official confirmation of the withdrawal from Jenin, but AFP journalists reported residents returning home.
The pullout came with Israel at loggerheads with key ally the United States over talks to forge a truce in the Gaza war, now nearly in its 12th month.
On Thursday, Blinken urged both Israel and Hamas to finalise a deal, saying: "I think based on what I've seen, 90 percent is agreed."
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied this, telling Fox News: "It's not close."
Washington and fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt have been pushing a proposal to bridge gaps between both sides.
Netanyahu insists on a military presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor.
Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal, saying it agreed months ago to a proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden.
Visiting Israel on Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said "a purely military approach is no solution to the situation in Gaza", after the recovery of six dead hostages announced at the weekend.
Baerbock warned against calls by hardline right-wing members of Israel's cabinet for the military to take a similar approach to the West Bank as in Gaza.
Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians including some hostages killed in captivity, according to official Israeli figures.
Of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the attack, 97 remain in Gaza including 33 the Israeli military says are dead. Scores were released during a one-week truce in November.
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 40,878 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN rights office.