The White House has requested that Israel investigate the death of 26-year-old American woman Aysenur Eygi in the occupied West Bank during a protest against Israeli settlements. Eygi was shot in the head and died shortly after being taken to a hospital, making her the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020 and the only non-Palestinian, according to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Eygi, a psychology graduate with a minor in Middle Eastern languages and cultures, was committed to serving under-served communities.
Eygi’s death has drawn condemnation from Turkey President Recep Erdogan and the University of Washington, where she was a recent graduate and a peer mentor in psychology. At least two other American citizens have been killed in the West Bank since October 7. Israeli settlements have expanded rapidly in recent years, with reports of armed settlers forcibly driving out Palestinian residents with the assistance of army units, as documented by Human Rights Watch.
Israeli forces have been carrying out operations in the West Bank, resulting in the death of at least 39 people, many of whom have been identified as terrorists by the IDF. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has expressed concerns over the excessive use of force by Israeli forces, which has led to the highest weekly death toll since November 2023. In the past, Israel admitted that one of its soldiers killed Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a raid in the occupied West Bank, but no disciplinary action has been taken.
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