MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
An American woman was shot and killed today in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. She was demonstrating against settlement expansion by Israelis. Palestinian media and witnesses say the Israeli military shot Aysenur Eygi, who held dual Turkish and U.S. citizenship. The military says it is investigating. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi spoke to some of her friends and has this report.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Twenty-six-year-old Aysenur Eygi had only arrived in Israel two days ago. She came as part of a pro-Palestinian activist organization called the International Solidarity Movement - or ISM. For two months now, ISM volunteers and other international activists have been demonstrating against a settlement outpost called Evyatar. It was initially an offshoot of the more established settlement Beita. Evyatar was legalized by the Israeli finance minister in July. Eygi's friend Maryam was with her today.
MARYAM: She was smiling this morning, and she was very keen in joining us. You know, she had a beautiful smile.
AL-SHALCHI: Maryam, who didn't give her last name for fear of repercussions, said Eygi performed prayers with the Palestinians on top of a hill overlooking Evyatar before the demonstration. Activist Vivi Chen, who was also there, says the Israeli military showed up right after the prayers.
VIVI CHEN: They pushed us to the bottom of the hill, basically. The army, at this point, had been throwing tear gas. They had fired a few live rounds.
AL-SHALCHI: Witnesses say there were some clashes and rock-throwing. Activist Jay Harrison was hiding behind a dumpster and started to run when a shot hit his cover. That's when he says he heard another shot about 15 feet away.
JAY HARRISON: I saw someone crumble and fall backward.
AL-SHALCHI: Harrison says it was Eygi. He ran to take her pulse. It was very weak.
HARRISON: I could see blood coming out their nose. Eyes weren't quite fully shut. You could see their eyes rolled back.
AL-SHALCHI: An ambulance took Eygi to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where she was shortly pronounced dead. The hospital head, Dr. Fouad Nafaa, said she arrived with fixed, dilated pupils.
FOUAD NAFAA: (Non-English language spoken).
AL-SHALCHI: Dr. Nafaa says Eygi's heart wasn't beating. She wasn't breathing, and parts of her brain had spilled out. He said doctors performed six cycles of CPR but couldn't save her life. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops fired toward, quote, "a main instigator" who was throwing rocks at them. But Harrison says they were too far down the hill.
HARRISON: There was no way for anyone to be able to hit them with rocks.
AL-SHALCHI: Chen says it was a deliberate shot.
CHEN: It wasn't like there was hundreds of bullets flying in the air and she got struck by accident. She was just moving down the hill, and then she was standing next to an olive tree.
AL-SHALCHI: Israeli military raids and settler violence have risen since October 7. The attacks have killed more than 650 Palestinians, according to the United Nations. The ISM says at least three of its activists have been killed since 2000. American ISM activist Rachel Corrie was famously crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in 2003. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the government was still gathering information about Eygi's death.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANTONY BLINKEN: I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens around the world.
AL-SHALCHI: But Chen says the U.S. is not taking action and that, to the Israelis, it's seen as a free pass.
CHEN: You guys think that you are here with the protection of your passport, but, in fact, we no longer care about that because, when we hurt you guys, your government does not respond.
AL-SHALCHI: Chen says, despite of being a bit afraid, she'll be back to demonstrate next week.
Hadeel Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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